Explorers of the Universe
by Stone-Man85
Summary: A band of alien teenagers explore the universe together to stop an ancient force bent on destroying the very thing they created. As well as to find the one thing in the universe more important than ever: A home for them to belong.
1. The Prologue to Life

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Goosebumps Series; it is the sole property of Scholastic Books. I also don't own the species used in this story, nor the places or people, it is the sole property of their creators and franchises. Original characters are of my own design.**

* * *

 **Explorers of the Universe**

* * *

 **Earth**

 **4.6 Billion Years Ago**

 **Lepton Epoch**

The period in the evolution of the early universe, in which the leptons dominated the mass of the universe, was what was known as the Lepton Epoch. It started roughly one second after the Big Bang, after the majority of hadrons and anti-hadrons annihilated each other at the end of the hadron epoch. During the lepton epoch, the temperature of the universe was still high enough to create lepton/anti-lepton pairs, so leptons and anti-leptons were in thermal equilibrium. Approximately ten seconds after the Big Bang the temperature of the universe had fallen to the point where lepton/anti-lepton pairs were no longer created. Most leptons and anti-leptons were then eliminated in annihilation reactions, leaving a small residue of leptons. The mass of the universe was then dominated by photons as it entered the following photon epoch.

The earth was young and fresh, green and untainted by any signs of intelligent life. However, that wasn't foreseen, as life walked among the surface for the first time… to begin it on Earth.

* * *

 **Pangaea**

 **Location: Sector soon to be named Africa**

Pangaea was a supercontinent that existed during the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic eras, forming about 300 million years ago and beginning to rift around 200 million years ago, before the component continents were separated into their current configurations. The single global ocean which surrounded Pangaea was accordingly named Panthalassa. But the true mystery was what started on the small but large section of Pangaea, which would later be called Africa.

Atop the cliffs, underneath the deeply cloudy skies of the still young planet, a rugged land of rocks lay underneath it. A massive lake nestled in the center of it, along with a streaming and roaring waterfall, leading to an even bigger water source. And just standing on a cliff, safely standing to admire the waterfall's beauty, stood a man. The man was seven feet tall, weighing 330lbs, but didn't look overweight, and covered in a dark cloak. Just before anything could be done, a giant shadow loomed over him for a moment, and flew over to the other side. The figure looked up for a moment, his deep dark 'dead-seeming' eyes looked upward to see the shadow's origin. The object was a giant flying ship, cylinder shaft-shaped and darkened metal, and merging with the clouds as it disappeared into the skies, never to be seen again.

Once it was gone, the being began to work to do whatever it was on the young and infantile planet. It reached into its cloak and knelt down, placing a metallic bowl container on the ground before him. It then twisted open a lid on top, and placed it to the side, and revealed a small cup inside, with a lid atop. But as air came into contact with the environment, it began to liquifiy into a black liquid of sorts. The being saw this chain reaction and knew it was time, as he undid his robe, allowing it to drop on the ground. His body was now shown, as he appeared to be… human. His body was muscled and hairless, with chalk-white skin; this being truly resembled a human, but in honesty wasn't a human.

Once the liquid settled into the cup, the being took it and stood up, and without hesitation, he took a massive gulp, drinking the substance. He breathed in relief, after consuming the concoction without hesitation nor stopping to take a breath. He stared at the world around him, almost taking it in one last time.

And then it happened.

He jolted a moment, coughing or choking from something. He continued to cough violently, enough to let go of the cup, as it dropped off the ledge, and off the rocks into the water. As he coughed, black cracks and spots appeared on his body, breaking down, even to the cellular levels. Its DNA breaking down and disintegrating, killing the very core and blueprint of this being. He finally roared out in pain, as slowly but surely, this creature was being rotted alive. As the screams were becoming more gargled. Its left leg lost most of the integrity, falling apart at the knee as it snapped in two. This caused him to fall down, and tumble to the side, and fell down into the waterfall. Once it was in the water, the being's body broke down even farther, disintegrating into the water.

But life didn't die with the strange one.

The alien's remains floated into the water, in a microscopic level. His DNA, though broken down, began to trigger a biogenetic reaction. The Broken DNA then began to recombine, eliminating the regular DNA chain and becoming a whole brand new one, as if it was reborn by the world's essence itself. The chain began to evolve a new form of single-celled organism, which became many, and later evolved into multicellular organisms. This turn of events brought about seeding Earth with the building blocks of life.

For whatever or why ever this began or started, it brought about the birth of life on Earth as known only to the beings that brought it upon this world. But it would not be the last that they would be heard of. And as one would say, Big Things had Small Beginnings.

And this small beginning would start something very big.

* * *

 **Next Chapter: Seeking the Origins and Answers; the Search for the Prometheus**


	2. Search for the Prometheus

**Explorers of the Universe**

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Seeking the Origins; Search of the Prometheus**

* * *

 **Earth**

 **2184**

 **Mountains of Scotland**

Scotland, a country that was part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shared a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the East, the Atlantic Ocean to the North and West, and the North Channel, and Irish Sea to the Southwest. In addition to the mainland, Scotland was made up of more than 790 islands, including the Northern Isles and the Hebrides.

And one of the islands, where the mountains stretched back billions of years, a small archeological dig was being held at. American by the tents and the small claiming tent, a small team of adults and teen graduates were currently working on a dig. One digger was currently entering a newly fashioned cave, with only a flashlight and the backpack on her.

She was a thirty-five year old Caucasian female, with a slender figure, raven black hair, and brown eyes to accompany her look. Her skin was a bit on the pale side, and showed as she nearly glowed in the cave iwht her flashlight. She wore black pants, black winter boots, a blue winter jacket, and black archeological gloves. Her name was Martha Shepard, a graduate majoring in paleontology and archeology. She graduated top of her class in high school in biology as well. In truth, she was the smartest woman at her age. And today, she was gonna find the Discovery of the Century.

She stopped for a moment on the cave trail, the pathway lit up with lights from the dig team. She looked around, and stopped, once she saw something amazing, written on the upper walls of the cave. At that moment, her face lit up with a smile, as she whispered, "Oh, my God."

She ran out of the cave, as she stepped at the mouth of the cave, and shouted, "John! John! We found it!"

Once she was heard, somebody ran out of their tent, as he stopped to look up to where Miranda was at. He was a Caucasian male of forty-one, with a shaved military haircut of black hair, a stubble for a beard, blue eyes, and a somewhat arrogant cocky face. He was wearing a red winter jacket, open with a black turtleneck, blue pants, black winter boots, and brown fingerless gloves. His name was Jonathan Shepard, the leading head of the expedition, mastering degrees in archeology, mythology, astronomy, and was in fact Martha's husband.

After he and a few others, along with a few excavation drones, John had reached her. Once they entered the cave, she led him to what she had found earlier. There, on the wall, being lit up by lights, was an early cave painting. It showed a tall man leading individuals to a constellation in the sky. And out of all the drawings on the cave wall, this one was mostly important to those who painted them. And to Miranda and John, they appeared to be well sought out, as John was speechless at the sight.

"You've gotta be kidding me," John said, in disbelief of this discovery. He never tore his gaze away from the paintings, as he asked, "Did you date them?"

"35,000 years ago," Martha answered, her smile never leaving her face. "It could be older than that." She smiled as she asked, "They're calling to us, aren't they?"

John nodded, as he smirked, "Indeed they are." He pointed to the constellational figure, as he stated, "Look at this; the configuration of the stars the figure's pointing to. It's exactly the same as the others we found. Different places, different millennia, but they all have the same configuration of the stars."

Martha tearfully smiled, as she and John held each other's hand, their fingers lacing one another. "It seems like they want us to find them," she whispered. And then looked to John, "When can we start?"

"Immediately."

* * *

 **1 Year Later**

 **New York City**

New York City, also known as the Big Apple, but otherwise known as the biggest city in America.

New York City was located in the Northeastern United States, in southeastern New York State, approximately halfway between Washington, D.C. and Boston. The location at the mouth of the Hudson River, which fed into a naturally sheltered harbor and then into the Atlantic Ocean, which has helped the city grow in significance as a trading city since its development. Much of New York was built on the three islands of Manhattan, Staten Island, and Long Island, making land scarce and encouraging a high population density.

The Hudson River flowed through the Hudson Valley into New York Bay. Between New York City and Troy, New York, the river was an estuary. The Hudson separated the city from New Jersey. The East River – a tidal strait – flowed from Long Island Sound and separated the Bronx and Manhattan from Long Island. The Harlem River, another tidal strait between the East and Hudson Rivers, separated Manhattan from the Bronx. The Bronx River, which flowed through the Bronx and Westchester County, was the only entirely fresh water river in the city

In 1911, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, the city's worst industrial disaster until the 9/11 World Trade Center disaster, took the lives of 146 garment workers and spurred the growth of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union and major improvements in factory safety standards.

In the early 22nd Century, the city had been rebuilt with a new skyscraper system, as well as hover vehicle transit posts. Now modernized, it looked like a vision of technological wonder. Truly, the state of New York City was something to behold from above in the heavens.

But not every spot in the century was a sight to behold for those.

* * *

 **District 9**

 **Peach Trees Block Housing**

The Blocks within New York were huge and could be considered a small town in themselves. Each one would typically possess a hospital, gymnasium, school, and shopping district. A citizen can quite literally live their whole lives without leaving their block. Due to the high unemployment rate, boredom was rife among citizens – this, coupled with the high loyalty citizens develop to their blocks, along with a city-defence militia for most city blocks, led to many "Block Wars", or riots (more like small wars) between two or more blocks.

In short, it was a place for those to be thrown away with nowhere else to go.

* * *

 **Room 1408**

The room looked pretty vacant for someone that was already living in it. There were papers and clothing strewn all over the place; someone had pretty much didn't both to clean around the place at all. But on a coffee table, were a few holographic photos of a couple with a young man at the age of seven with messy brown hair, and wearing an adorable army man costume, and a little raven black haired girl at the age of four, dressed in a princess costume. The couple was a man in his thirties, dressed as a cop, Caucasian, in his thirties with slick back brown hair, and the lady was in her late twenties, dressed for a ball and had long black hair that was silky to the touch, and went down her back. But there were more than just family photos on the table.

At the moment, someone was sleeping on the couch, sprawled on it, as his face was covered in a book, and he was snoring on it. He was a young sixteen year old boy, slim figure, Caucasian, and messy brown hair shown from the book's edges. He wore an aqua blue long sleeve shirt with sky blue shoulders, sleeve cuffs, and collar. He also wore black pants with a gray vertical stripe on the thigh's front and back, and white socks, and had a pair of gray sneakers set on the couch he laid on. He was Isaac Shepard, the son of Jonathan and Martha Shepard, who were currently away for a whole year.

Floating around was a disc-shaped droid, with two green flashlights for eyes, as it flew over to the boy, as it beeped, "Isaac Shepard. You are late for school. It is past the school hour."

"I'm home in bed. Sick," Isaac groaned under the book.

The door opened, as someone walked inot the room. It was a girl around sixteen, Caucasian, and slim figure, very attractive, with strawberry reddish blonde hair cut to her shoulders and her front bangs swept to the right and held by a pin, and had green eyes. She wore a black turtleneck dickie, with a light blue t-shirt with a blue cat design on the front exposing her midriff, a pair of ankle-less blue jean pants with white shoes and a white belt with a white chain dangling on the side. She also had a blue watch on her right wrist, and a large book bag on her shoulders. She was Gwen Tenalds, Isaac's cousin/sister figure in the world.

Once she set her book bag down, she walked over to Isaac's spot on the couch, and frowned, as she glared down on his downed body. "You've got a lot of nerve just sleeping in all day. WAKE UP!"

And then forcefully kicked him off the couch, causing him to fall down, groaning. His face was revealed to be handsome, with blue eyes. He got up on all fours, and glared at Gwen, "Do you have to kick me off my spot on the couch the whole time?"

"All's fair for you, pal," Gwen stated. "I don't see you pulling your weight around all the time."

Isaac frowned, as he got up, and headed to the kitchen, "It wouldn't kill you to be nice for a change, you know that, Queen Dweeb?"

Gwen sat down, kicking her shoes off as she let her bare feet rest on the couch, "It also wouldn't kill you to go to school. You've been absent for nearly four months now. If this keeps up, you might never graduate."

Isaac grabbed two carbonated water drinks from the fridge, and walked over to Gwen to give her one. "Well, it's kind of pointless if your parents aren't here to scold you on late absentees." He the plopped on the chair next to the sofa, as he took a huge gulp from his bottle. He then belched out, as he groaned, "Besides, I've been thinking about just being homeschooled."

Gwen sighed, "Ken Heels bugging you again?"

Isaac nodded, "I just can't seem to get him to leave me alone. He's been picking on me since the 4th grade. It's like with me, he's found a happy way to pass his time to torment me; to be honest, you'd think I'd be a waste of his time."

Gwen could sympathize with Isaac's dilemma; Ken Heels was the bully of the school who got away with things, simply because his family worked with Wayward Industries: a company that specialized with terraforming and planet-cracking, a process that mined the planet of rare ore and mineral samples for Earth's resources. They were also the people Uncle John and Aunt Martha went to about their discovery they found in the caves. They had been gone for almost a year now, but had to leave the kids behind. But they were well taken care of by their Robo-Nanny/Housekeeper.

At that moment, the door knocked, getting their attention, as Gwen got up, seeing that Isaac was just plastered to the seat. She opened the door, and spotted a Caucasian man in his thirties, neatly combed brown hair, slim figure, brown eyes, and wearing what appeared to be a jumpsuit of some kind.

"Yes," Gwen asked. "Can I help you?"

"Gwendolyn Tenalds and Isaac Shepard? Is this the residence," he asked.

"Yes," Gwen replied.

"I'm Christopher Samuels, I'm with Wayward Industries," he replied. "I'm here on behalf of the situation on the Prometheus. The ship that your aunt, uncle, and Mr. Shepard's parents were on." Isaac sat up, seeming to take interest on that, as Gwen let him in. "Thank you."

"What's wrong with the Prometheus?" Isaac asked.

Gwen looked worried, as she asked, "What happened with Aunt Martha and Uncle John?"

"Well, we're not certain ourselves," Samuels explained. "The ship reached its destination after a year, and things had been working like clockwork. But then all of a sudden, we lost all transmissions after a few days. Until now, we received a transmission, and then everything stopped."

The two teens seemed interested on what was going on, and then Gwen asked, "What's been going on for the past year on Aegis 7?"

Samuels looked to the children, and replied, "That's what the rescue team is going to find out. A commercial Planet-Cracker, the USSCS Ishimura is going there in a week." He then hopefully looked at the two teens, and asked, "And I was hoping… you two would come along."

Gwen's eyes went wide with surprise, feeling a sense of hope to go after the only family she and Isaac had left. She shot up on her feet, as she replied hastingly, "Yeah, we'll go, we'll go, we'll go!"

But Isaac stood up, as he huffed, "Count me out." He then walked to the window, looking outside at the overcrowded advanced city.

"Isaac! These are your parents we're talking about here," Gwen defended. "They're also family to me too."

"They practically abandoned us, Gwen," Isaac huffed, crossing his arms, as he leaned on the window sill. "They could have brought us along for the trip, but they decided to leave us behind. Claiming they'd be back in no time. But as soon as their research comes in, this happens."

Gwen frowned, "That's not true, Isaac."

But Samuels kept her from going, as he silently stopped her, "May I?" Gwen, not sure of what would happen, nodded, as Samuels walked over to Isaac. "Isaac, look. When this case came across my desk, I read the case history, as well as looked up the family relations to those on this mission in case something like this happened. I know why you're skipping school, and avoiding contact with anyone else. You're waiting for them to come back, aren't you?" Isaac was silent, but still looked away. "I've been cleared to offer you two a place on the Falcon if you want to come along. Maybe there'll be some… closure for you both."

A moment of silence came from Isaac, as he suddenly spoke up, "Going into outer space, visiting a faraway planet from our system, and maybe finding aliens?" He then turned to them both, smirking, as he replied, "Sounds like fun."

* * *

 **1 ½ Year Later**

 **Deep Space**

Drifting through the blackness of space, far away from the Milky Way Galaxy, rode two ships heading towards their destination. The ships were the _Falcon_ and the _Ishimura_. Both funded and built by the Wayward Industries, a separate technology firm, that was more of a cult. They believed the advancement of mankind to a higher evolutionary calling, founded by one man, Michael Orgman. Since then, Wayward had become the largest supplier of Space Travel and building the colonies among the inner circle planets of the Milky Way System: Venus, Mars, the Moon, and even Saturn and Jupiter, or at least many of their moons. And they were also the main benefactors of the exploration team now.

Funded and conceived by the Wayward Industries, like the _Prometheus,_ both the _Falcon_ and _Ishimura_ were revolutionary starships that were the most advanced and expensive faster-than-light space exploration vehicles of its day. It was billed as an official United States Commercial Starship in 2091. It was a huge prospecting vessel, now rebuilt for both prospecting and exploration. The _Prometheus_ was powered by four nuclear ion plasma engines capable of VTOL thrust hybrid vectoring in atmospheric and interstellar conditions. Individual cranes in the engine's outer shell lifted the heavy titanium caution-colored landing legs back into the engine. The ship carried over twenty vehicles in tow along with crew weaponry composed of flame units, advanced pistols, shotguns and other weaponry used by mercenaries in charge of security.

The main control room housed a primary holo-table which received the signals fed by the three-dimensional holographic scanning spectagraphs. It also carried seventeen hyper sleep chambers, with holographic display to the ship's mainframe to monitor metabolic conditions ot suspend cell function; they were programmed to initiate, maintain, and terminate hyper sleep stasis of human crew, depending on the length of the mission and percent FTL travel. The ship's equipment included an RT-01 Exploration Rover, which could house 20 occupants. An ATV NR6, which was a two person transport vehicle with 4-tread, track-belted wheels able to negotiate near-vertical terrain carrying small payloads; they had about ten of them. Class D escape module, which was designed suitable for the Prometheus as well as the Falcon, and could allow one occupant 50 years of breathable air with or without hyper sleep.

The other vessel was the USSCS _Ishimura_ , the flagship of the Concordance Extraction Corporation, a partner company of Wayward in mining planets with fresh natural resources, and the first _Planet-Cracker_ class ship. The _Ishimura_ was also the first vessel of its size to be utilized for large-scale commercial and deep space expeditions. The length of the ship was roughly over 5,300 feet (Nearly one mile, or 1.6 kilometers) long from stern to bow. The width remained unknown, with a height of roughly 1,550 feet (0.47 km). The ship itself was a portable space station.

The two were headed to an unknown and classified location at the moment. The last known sector of where the Prometheus had disappeared.

* * *

 **Onboard the Prometheus**

 **Hypersleep Chambers**

The hyper sleep chambers were as quiet as ever, even for a year and a half. The chambers were held horizontal, and were yellow casings, keeping the crew in stasis sleep, making them nice and comfy, as well as fresh and the same age as they left. The chambers' holographic displays were up to date on their vitals and such. Four of the Chambers had the names Isaac Shepard, Gwen Tenalds, Jeff Carter, and one Ken Heels, each separated from the others. But despite the fact that the crew was safe, asleep, and alive, the whole place was a tomb.

However, that wasn't the case anymore, as the chamber room doors hissed open. Someone stepped in, as they observed the area. The person was a female, sixteen years of age in appearance, pale white skin, with a beautiful slender body frame, blue hair that was cut above the neck, and blue eyes. She was dressed in a skin-tight black and silver body suit; the boots were black from foot to thigh, with a one-piece turtleneck frame, with sleeves and black gloves. She was Rei 8, a synthetic android, as well as the caretaker of the crew, while they were in hyper sleep.

She walked over to Isaac's pod, and typed in a few commands. Afterwards, a pair of specs had retracted from the side of the chamber; she then took the specs and placed them on her face. Once that happened, she saw a scene directly from Isaac's memory; the specs allowed anyone to view into the other's memories. And at the moment, she was looking at a distant memory.

* * *

 _The memory was far back, when Isaac and Gwen were both only ten years of age, and when Gwen was adopted into the family. Jonathan Shepard was working on a dig with his wife as they were in Africa, and took the kids along for the ride. There, an African funeral was being processing, as young Miranda was observing them. She then asked her father,"What happened to that man?"_

" _He died," Isaac answered her, as he turned the page of a book he was reading._

" _Why aren't we helping them?" she asked her uncle John for an answer._

" _Oh, they don't want our help. I think they'd find our ways in funeral to be different from theirs," their father answered. "They're God's different than ours." He shook his head, as he corrected, "No, they're God's not different than ours. God's the same everywhere; he's just viewed differently in different religions."_

" _Why did he die?" Gwen asked._

" _Sooner or later everyone does," he answered._

 _She blinked in confusion, as she asked, "Like my parents?"_

 _Jonathan paused for a moment, and nodded sadly, "Like your parents, sweetie."_

" _Where do they go," Gwen asked. "Where do we go when we die?"_

 _Jonathan shrugged, "Well, everyone has their own word for it: heaven, paradise. Whatever it's called, it's someplace beautiful. Peaceful. Amazing."_

" _How do you know it's beautiful?" she finally asked._

 _Uncle John just smiled to her, as he replied, "Because that's what I choose to believe."_

 _She then looked to her cousin, who was still reading, and then she asked, "Hey, Isaac, what do you believe?"_

 _Isaac stopped reading for a moment, and then looked to her. He blinked, and looked away, thinking for a moment, and then looked up in the sky._

* * *

Rei ended the show, as she took off her specs, and placed them back. She remained quiet for a moment, and tipped her head, as she stated, "Interesting."

* * *

 **A Month Later**

All along the month passing since that day, Rei had kept herself occupied, while maintaining surveillance on the sleeping crew. Recently, she had gone to the Recreation Center and had played basketball, while riding a bicycle. Afterwards, she took a dip in the pool, but lacked the swimsuit to do so, so she went in with nothing at all. After that, she sat down on the couch, with nothing but a towel underneath her, and a towel on her shoulders, eating a bowl of ramen, watching an old film on file, _Lawrence of Arabia_.

She was currently watching the scene in which she identified the character, William Potter, played by Peter O'Toole, attempting to mimic the main character, Lawrence's, attempts in snuffing out a match with his bare fingers. Potter flinched, as he licked his wounds, and had to ask, " _How'd you do it man? What's the trick?_ "

Lawrence simply answered, " _The trick, William Potter, is not minding that it hurts._ "

"The Trick, William Potter, is not minding that it hurts," Rei mimicked, and then turned the broadcast off. She cocked an eyebrow, as she asked, "Not minding that it hurts. Curious."

However, she stopped as she heard a beeping from the Recreation's remote computer from the Main Helm Deck. She uncrossed her legs, and stood up, allowing the towel on her shoulders to fall off, rendering herself completely in the nude. She walked over to the computer, and switched it on. Just at that moment, the ship shook a little, as the ship's main computer spoke out, "ATTENTION. MAIN DESTINATINO THRESHOLD. MAIN DESTINATION THRESHOLD"

Rei stood there for a moment, and typed in a few codes into the console. On the Bridge, everything lit up, and activated, as she switched onto a ship camera, looking at the destination. The world was called Aegis 7, a remote and desolate planet: the perfect place to be left alone and unseen.

Rei smirked at this news, "We're there."

* * *

 **Class-D Module**

Rei, now fully dressed, walked into the Class D Module, to awaken the occupant that was in there. However, once she had reached it, she found the hyper sleep chamber empty, but found wet footprints leading to the bedroom. Once she got there, she saw a woman doing pushups to fight the prolong effects of Hyper Sleep. She was a Caucasian, physically fit, nude in only workout underwear, and dampened medium length blonde hair. Her name was Meredith Vickers, an executive of Cerberus, as well as a skeptic and someone who desperately wanted to control the situation. Once she was done with her exercise, she stood up, and headed to the closet.

But not before Rei bowed her head, and expressed gratitude, "Good morning, Miss Vickers."

Not caring much for an android, she scoffed her, and asked, "How long have we been in hyper sleep, Canner?"

Ignoring the insult, Rei simply answered, "1 year, 4 months, 18 days, 36 hours, 15 minutes…"

"Okay, enough," Vickers ordered, and Rei stopped. As she robed herself, she asked, "Any casualties?"

Rei tilted her head in confusion, as she asked, "Casualties, ma'am?"

"Has anyone died?" Vickers asked, slightly annoyed.

Rei shook her head, "No, Ma'am. Everyone is just fine."

Vickers then shooed her out, ordering rather impatiently, "Well, then wake them up, like a good little robot."

Rei was quiet for a moemtn, staring at Vickers as she was getting dressed. If one pondered what was going on in her head, it was like she was glaring in hate at the blonde. Vickers turned around and shooed off again, almost yelling as the tone of her voice went up, "What are you waiting for? An invitation? Go!" Rei nodded, and then turned to leave, as Vickers whispered in satisfaction, almost feeling superior, "That's a good thing…"

* * *

 **Next Chapter: Arriving to Aegis 7; the Message and Landing**


	3. Landing on Aegis 7

**Explorers of the Universe**

* * *

 **Chapter 2: Ghosts and Missions; Landing on Aegis 7**

* * *

 **Later On**

Back in the hyper sleep chamber, the crew was awakening rather well. At the moment, they were getting over disorienting and slight heaving. One of such an example was Gwen, as she sat on her chamber, heaving in a plastic disposal box. Rei was currently helping her out, as she massaged her back, and eased herself. "Gwen Tenalds, it'll be alright," she explained, as Gwen continued to heave, "You've been in Hyper Sleep for over a year now. It's only natural you're vomiting liquids."

"Hey, Gwen," Isaac weakly called out. She turned to look at him, as he smiled, "We finally made it." Gwen nodded, but then blew chunks again in the box.

Isaac chuckled at that, but then was pushed out of his seat. He turned around and saw a Caucasian boy around his age and build, with short cut blonde hair and blue eyes. This was Ken Heels; one of the crew's kids and a bully at Isaac's school. Apparently when Samuels said that they'd go to the trip, he never mentioned that the Keels were aboard the ship as well. "Hey, what's shakin', Worker Isaac?"

"You mean aside from the fact my body's still recovering from hyper sleep," Isaac groaned. "Nothing much."

Suddenly, Ken was pulled back by a Caucasian boy around eighteen years old. He was built like a mechanic; buff and lean, with shaggy black hair, and had a small scar under his left eye. This was Jeff Carter, one of the crew's security forces taken out of the boot camp program. He glared at Ken, as he asked, "You enjoy kicking guys when they're down? How'd you feel if I pound your stomach in and watch you retch like his cousin's doing at this second?"

"Gentlemen, if you please," Rei walked up, stopping any notion of a fight. She then helped Isaac up to his feet, as she lightly addressed, "You need to get cleaned up and dressed. The briefing will begin as soon as breakfast is served." Jeff let Ken go, as she nodded to them, and then to Isaac, "Good day to you, Isaac Shepard." And then walked off.

Ken snarled, as he silently threatened Isaac, "That canner may have your back, but she won't be there for long." And then stormed off to the showers.

Isaac, who was taking a breath of relief, looked to Jeff, as he said, "Thanks."

"Just watch your back from now on, alright," Jeff stated, as he grabbed a towel. "I can't watch your back on this ship or to wherever we're going."

* * *

 **Mess Decks**

Everyone was scrounging to get a meal or two before the mission at hand. It had been a rough time in hyper sleep as they were just now evacuating their bodies of waste, and filling up on something fresh. Food to replenish their systems, and plenty of fluids to replenish as well. Isaac and Gwen had gotten their trays loaded, and were making their way to a table. At that moment, Vickers walked in, seemingly gliding in like a business woman should have. However, her attention was caught by someone in particular.

He was an African American male, possible thirties, slim build, wearing the same uniform that Isaac and Joker wore, crew cut, mustache and beard combo, and was smoking a cigar. He was the captain of the Prometheus, Samuel Marek, the captain of the exploration vessel. At the moment, he was in the rumpus room next to the cafeteria wing, decorating a plastic Christmas tree.

Miss Vickers walked in, as she asked in a manner that seemed like she didn't know what the tree was, "What the hell is that?"

Marek stopped a moment, as he blew out a cloud, "Well, it's Christmas. Just because we're not on Earth, doesn't mean we can't celebrate the holidays, now does it?"

Vickers shook her head of this nonsense to her, as she announced, "Mission briefing is about to start, Captain. I suggest you hurry up and eat."

"Yeah, and Merry Christmas to you too," the captain dryly responded.

Back on the mess deck, Isaac and Gwen had found their table and were currently digging in. However, at the moment, someone else had joined up with them. Jeff had walked over to the table, as he joined them. He wore a white under shirt with no sleeves, and the same type of uniform pants and boots that the security team were wearing, except they were black and blue.

He looked to the two, and then to Isaac, as he asked, "So you're the two kids whose parents went missing on the Prometheus, right?" Isaac simply nodded, as the big fellah asked, "So what do you think happened?"

"I honestly don't know, and neither does my cousin," Isaac replied.

Jeff looked to Gwen and asked, "Cousin?"

"My parents died in a car crash in the Canadian alps," she replied. "I was adopted in my cousin's family when I was ten. My Aunt Martha and Uncle John are the only parents I have now."

"So they just left you two back on earth while they went exploring to wherever we're going," Jeff asked, as he took a sip. "Seems kind of careless, if you ask me…"

That outburst caused Gwen to shoot up, and then splattered her drink in Jeff's face. She then walked off, going to a new table, as Jeff asked, "Touchy subject?"

"My parents left us behind because of a contract clause stated that kids couldn't get involved in the dig. It was for our safety."

"Guess it wasn't safe enough, if they sent a distress beacon," Jeff deduced.

* * *

 **Recreation Center**

Once everyone had been assembled and seated, as well as a non-too enthusiastic Isaac, Miss Vickers walked in. She stood in the center of the room, like a speaker announcing to the audience. "Good morning. I am Meredith Vickers," she responded to all of them. "And it is my job to make sure you do yours. And now to take the floor, the one funding this expedition: Peter Wayward, the founder and CEO of Wayward Industries."

Suddenly, lighting up the area around the place, a holographic video of an officer overlooking New York was shown. And in it, a very old man who looked like he was barely holding together, walked over with the help of his cane to address the crowd. This was Peter Wayward, the one who was helping to fund this expedition as well as the rescue mission. He was also a fanatic who led his own religion referred to as Unitology. "Hello, friends. My name is Peter Wayward. I am your employer. I am recording this, 22 June, 2184. And if you're watching it, you have reached your destination. And I am long dead. May I rest in peace. There's a young woman sitting with you today. Her name is Rei."

The others turned to look at Rei, who seemed unfazed by all the stares, as Wayward continued. "And she is the closest thing to a daughter I will ever have. Unfortunately, she is not human. She will never grow old and she will never die. And yet she is unable to appreciate these remarkable gifts for that would require the one thing that Rei will never have. A soul. I have spent my entire lifetime contemplating the questions: Where do we come from? What is our purpose? What happens when we die? And I have finally found two people who convinced me they're on the verge of answering them. Doctors Jonathan and Martha Shepard, if you would please stand. As far as you're concerned, they're in charge. The Titan Prometheus wanted to give making equal footing with the gods and for that, he was cast from Olympus. Well, my friends, the time has finally come for his return. Doctors, please. The floor is yours."

Vickers stopped the recording, as she stated, "Seeing as how they couldn't be present, we made a recording of what happened on the ship. Play it now."

Immediately, a scene aboard the Prometheus was shown, as the two named scientists stood up, and approached the middle, presenting themselves, as the hologram went on.

And then the hologram continued, Jonathan chuckled, "Well, first time a ghost has invited me on the floor."

Someone in the background of the hologram, asked, "Well before the presentation, I just have one question to ask: why are we out here in the middle of nowhere?"

"Right, and for that, allow me to show you." He then activated a small cube, which showed holographic images of different locations, and whether or not they were different, they had something similar in common. But that would be found out later, as Jonathan explained, "These are images of archaeological digs from all over the earth," he said as he pointed to different images. "That's Egyptian, Mayan, Sumerian, Babylonian. That's Hawaiian at the end there and Mesopotamian. Now this one here is our most recent discovery, it's a thirty five thousand year old cave painting from the Isle of Sky in Scotland. These are ancient civilizations, they were separated by centuries, they shared no contact with one another, and yet..." he then clapped his hands together, causing the hologram images to line up together, as he went through each one. "The same pictogram, showing men worshiping giant beings pointing to the stars was discovered at every last one of them." The pictures then switched over to a map of the solar system that they were currently occupying, heading towards the planet known as Aegis 7. "The only galactic system that matched, was so far from earth, that there's no way that these primitive ancient civilizations could have possibly known about. But it just so happens, that system has a sun, a lot like ours. And based on our long range scans, there seemed to be a planet. Just one planet with the moon, capable of sustaining life, and we arrived there this morning. Aegis 7."

One of the crewman, a redhead British fellah that looked more like a rockstar, with tattoos on his face, arm, and a red combed mowhawk and scraggly short beard, the Geologist named Fifield, asked aloud, "So you're saying we're here because of a map you two kids found in a cave, is that right?"

"No," Martha replied. "No. Not a map. More likely… it's an invitation."

"From whom?" another crewmember named Millburn asked.

Isaac looked at his cousin, wondering what his mother and her aunt would say. But she showed her confidence, as she answered, "Well, they don't have an official name, but we call them the Creators."

"Creators?" Fifield asked, not amused of what he heard. But then asked, "Do you mind, um, telling us what they engineered?"

After a moment of silence, Martha smiled, as she answered, "They created us."

Everyone heard that, both hologram and real person alike, and the whispers began to spread all over in silence. The only ones who weren't amused by it was Gwen, Jeff, Rei, and a very annoyed Isaac as he hung his head in this.

"Bullshit," was all that Fifield said.

However, Millburn spoke up, "Do you have any proof of that? I mean, we're talking thousands of years of Darwanism saying nay to that theory, so if you're still backing to your story, then… Whoohoo to you." But then he turned serious, as he asked, "But, well… how do you know?"

Martha was about to answer that question, but Jonathan beat her to it, as he turned to both scientists, and answered, "Because that's what we choose to believe."

That was when the hologram stopped, as Miss Vickers walked in front, "After a year, that was the last we heard from them. But a year later, we received a message on a distress signal beamed right back to Earth." She pulled out a recorder, as she explained, "So far, it doesn't make any sense."

She then played it, as everyone heard the message. It sounded distorted, with screams in the background changing volume and focus, as if someone had messed with the sound. There were even strange growling and howling sounds; it almost sounded like they had stepped in the set of a horror movie being filmed. Vickers stopped the recording, as everyone took that message to haunt themselves.

Finally, Ken asked, "What the hell was that?"

"Now we ran it through some filters, and we were able to isolate what appeared to sound like a human voice," Vickers explained, and then played a different track of the same signal, only now, they heard a slightly clear human voice.

" - - Liberate` Me-", the voice spoke up from distorted shrieks and alarms.

Vickers stopped the tape, as she looked satisfied on the fact, as she stated, "Though I doubt that sounds like any language."

"Latin," Rei spoke up.

Gwen looked over to her, and asked, "What?"

"I believe it sounds like Latin."

"You can verify on that," Marek asked.

"For the past year, I've been studying dead and living languages. I'm fluent in all of earth's languages now, and I believe I know what I heard to be is latin," Rei concluded.

"Can you translate it," Marek asked.

Rei looked to Miss Vickers, and asked, "Play it again, please?" Miss Vickers did so, much to her annoyance, as Rei listened to the recording. And once it stopped, she nodded, "It sounds like they're saying, Liberate` Me`…, but I can't make out the rest."

"Liberate` Me`," Isaac asked.

Rei turned to him, as she replied, "Save me."

* * *

 **Class-D Module**

 **Vickers' 'Home'**

Gwen Isaac were called upon by Miss Vickers for a private meeting. They were currently waiting down the hallway for Rei, who was in turn Miss Vickers' little servant. However, during that moment, the two were silent at the moment and taking in what Rei had just translated. The Latin message stated, 'Save Me', and that was it for now. Was there some kind of trouble going down on Aegis 7? Were their parents/guardians in trouble? If so, now was more than ever to find them.

However, their fear had to be put aside for now, as Rei appeared, as she motioned, "Gwendolyn Tenalds, Isaac Shepard. Miss Vickers will see you now."

Isaac asked, "Any reason why she wants to talk with us?"

Rei nodded her head, as she replied, "Just a little on the top subject before the adventure begins." She then led them to Vickers' little home.

Inside Module D, it looked like an office, lounge and separate bedroom altogether. Isaac looked around, and asked aloud, "Nice setup. What is this place?"

"It's a separate module; it's similar on the Prometheus," Rei explained. "It runs on a separate energy source, with enough food, water, clean air. Enough to last for about 5 years for one person."

"So she lives on a lifeboat," Isaac asked, as Gwen browsed around, leaving the boy and female android to look around.

"Yes," Miss Vickers spoke out, spooking them both, as she walked in. "I like to limit risks if at all possible." She then looked to Rei, and ordered, "I'll have a scotch. Would you like anything in particular?"

Isaac remained quiet, but replied honestly, "Nothing for me, but thanks."

Vickers smirked, "Not much of a drinker, are you?"

"When the job's done, and no one's dead, then I'll drink," Isaac informed.

Vickers mocked a frown, "Oooh, so serious for a boy your age."

"Isaac, look at this," Gwen suddenly spoke out.

They all turned and saw that Gwen was looking at a coffin-sized white and glass pod of sorts. It was built into the floor, as she examined a keyboard console on the pod, "It's a med pod. They only made a dozen of these. It's amazing."

"Miss Tenalds, please look but don't touch," Miss Vickers politely applied.

Gwen left it alone, and walked back to the others, as she asked, "It bypasses surgery completely. What do you need it for?"

Vickers seemed to change the subject, as she went on, "I think there might be some confusion about our relationship. Our industries found your parents' research impressive enough to fund this mission, but I'm fairly certain that their Creators are nothing but scribblings of savages living in dirty little caves, and that they're suffering communication failings and are all scared stiff. But let's say I'm wrong, and you do find these 'beings' down there as well as your parents: you won't engage them, you won't talk to them, you will do nothing but report back to me."

Isaac then cleared his throat, as he stated, "And if they try to engage, talk, or do something with us before we do?"

"As I said: you'll do nothing but report back to me," she stated, as she looked to Isaac, "Besides, you're the obedient puppy, don't do anything but obey and eat your treats."

"Ummm, Miss Vickers," Gwen interrupted before Isaac shot something back to her. "Is there an agenda that you're not telling us about?"

"My company paid a trillion dollars to find this place and to bring you all here, prior to your parents and their team," Miss Vickers explained, as Rei gave Isaac a bottled water and prepared Miss Vickers' drink. "Had your parents raised the monies yourself, we'd happily be pursuing your agenda. But you didn't. And that makes you an employee."

However, Gwen was slightly confused and a bit disappointed, as she asked, "If we can't make contact, why did you — why did you even send them there on that planet?"

"Wayward was a superstitious man. He wanted a true believer on board," Vickers explained. Rei then walked over and gave her the drink. She then cheered to all three of them, with a conniving smirk on her face, "Cheers."

* * *

 **Helm Deck**

After the meeting, everyone was at their stations, as the Falcon was making its way towards Aegis 7, with the Ishimura going on the other side of the planet. At that moment, Gwen and Isaac were currently overlooking pictures of different cultures, as REi was examining them. Isaac's dad had a theory on the Creators and their involvement with Earth's several different cultures. He theorized that both written and verbal of the Creators were each from a couple of Earth's ancient cultures. Jonathan had deduced that the verbal language was that of like Proto-Indo-European, one of the oldest languages spoken by Mankind. And their written language was apparently ancient Sumerian, the oldest written language used by humanity. At the moment, Rei was trying to make contact with them, but so far no luck.

"So no response," Isaac asked. "Not from the Prometheus, or these… creators?"

"No, nothing yet. But am confident that there's no problem with the message," REi answered.

"Maybe they just didn't understand it," Gwen replied. "So… how were your lessons going, Rei?"

"For the past two years, I worked on deconstructing dozens of Earth's languages down to the roots," Rei explained, as she typed at the console, "I'm confident that I can communicate with them. Providing your father's thesis is correct, Isaac."

Isaac chuckled, as he sensed a bit of doubt in her, "Provided it's correct."

"Yes, that's why it's called a thesis," Rei replied back, and got back to work.

Isaac chuckled, while Gwen tried to hide her smile. But Gwen looked to her cousin, and asked, "Did we just get told off by an A.I.?"

"Yes, I believe we did," Isaac answered.

"Alright everbody, sit tight and let's head on down," Marek announced.

Everyone got to their seats, as the two helmsman, an Asian man and a black haired American with a stubble, both named Chance and Ravel, steadied the bird to land on Aegis 7. As the ship broke through the atmosphere, the planet looked almost like Earth in some way. Rocky mountains, desert landscapes of nothing but rocks and dirt, and a foggy white sky with no blue tint to the atmosphere. There was no plant life, no lifeforms of any kind; the whole planet looked like a windy desert.

Back on board, Marek asked for a reading on the living conditions, "Ravel, what's the atmosphere?"

"Atmoshpere is 71 percent nitrogen, 21 percent oxygen," Ravel responded. "And also on the side, traces of argon gas."

"Wha, now that's weather," Gwen commented.

"Yep, sounds like New York," Isaac pointed out.

However, one of the female medical officers, named Ford, pointed out, "Only if you're breathing through an exhaust pipe. CO2 is over 3 percent. Two minutes without a suit, you're dead."

Ravel reported, "Peak at portside." Then turned the ship the other way, avoiding the peak. Once it past them, he was in awe, "Yeesh! That thing's about as big as Everest."

"Actually its bigger," Ford pointed out. "Makes Everest look like a baby brother."

As the Ravel soared throught eh clouds, an electric storm was going off. Marek advised, "Be careful here, bosy. I wanna make sure the Falcon can make it through. The last thing we want is ta get stuck out here, and then we need rescue for the rescue."

Chance reported, "I've got scans all over the place. Metal everywhere." The screen lit up with little points all over the mountain terrain, which was strange, "That's weird. There's no buildings out here, but there's definite signs of metal."

The Falcon managed to get out of the storms, and into the clear eye of the storm. There, they found a vast and desert like mountain area, perfect for landing. They said through the pass, the sun touching on over the horizon but fading soon, coming close to night. All the while, the scanners were reading nothing; no signs of life were even found out in the sunlight.

Chance shrugged, "I don't know what to say. There's no radio signals, no heat signatures. Nothing there."

Rei then spoke out, quoting from the film she watched, "There is nothing in the desert, and no man needs nothing."

The only one to ask that was Isaac, as he turned to look at her, "Say what? What was that?"

Rei looked to him, and smiled at him, "Just a quote from a film that I liked to watch. In the nude."

Isaac nearly went white as a sheet on that, but Marek got him out of it, "Keep your eyes on the front instead of on her rack."

The ship headed forward, but it was only then that they noticed a gateway of rock in the mountains they were flying in between. The Falcon glided on over there, leaving behind the mountains in the rear. There, it came to a clearing, surrounded by nothing but mountains. In it, was nothing but smooth rock and stones, like large chunks of rock into black sand. They came in nice and slow, as they reached their way to the clearing. It was only then that Isaac noticed something on the monitors. He unbuckled himself as he got out of his seat, much to the disapproval of the captain, as well as their chief of security.

"Isaac, what are you doing," Gwen asked, slightly scared of what he was doing.

"There." He pointed out, as everyone got a good look at it. There, they spotted in the valley where the Falcon was going, was what appeared to be a landing strip stretching out about a mile. "Right there. God does not build in straight lines."

Ravel looked at the monitors, as did Chance, as the pilot commented, "Yep, God doesn't do that handiwork."

Isaac looked to Marek, and asked, "Captain, Helmsman, you two think you can land us down there?"

"Well, we wouldn't be any good unless we tried," Marek pointed out. "Mr. Chance, Mr. Ravel, starboard side, 90 degrees. Then one mile port bow, initiate the landing sequence."

The Falcon glided on in the vast and wide canyon, carefully making its way through the rock and ground. The four engines pointed downward, making the descent go easier and slow enough for a safe landing. Then once it was low enough, the landing gear plopped out, and touchdown was a success. However, once they landed, they saw where the landing strip led to. There on the other side, stood a massive crescent moon-shaped structure, completely made of black rock, and towered as big as the Taj Mahal. Perhaps even bigger than they imagined it to be. And parked next to it, was an exact twin of the Falcon: the Prometheus.

Once everyone was out of their seats, they all took the moment to gaze at the structure in awe. Even Isaac was a bit amazed by that, as he looked at it. Gwen looked at her cousin and smirked, but it didn't go unnoticed by him, as he sighed, "What?"

"We found them," she said, with a smile.

Isaac sighed, "Well, we don't know if anybody's home yet." He then looked to Marek, as he asked, "Captain, would you please tell the survey team to suit up, and meet us in the airlock."

Marek raised an eyebrow, "There's only six hours left of daylight. Why won't we wait until the morning? I mean it's not going anywhere."

Isaac shook his head, "I can't wait that long to know if anybody's alive."

* * *

 **Next Chapter:** **Explore the Ruins; Ghosts and Secrets**


	4. Explore the Ruins

**Explorers of the Universe**

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Explore the Ruins; Ghosts and Secrets**

* * *

 **Later On**

 **Equipping Station**

Everyone was gearing up for the trip outside, and the teens were changing in the SIG Room. The SIG, or Symbiotic Integration Gear, was an integrated survival and strength augmentation system suit that assists users in previously impossible and dangerous environments. SIGs were advanced spacesuits using the latest in bio-nanotech and armor plating. They were designed monitor the life signs of an individual, as well as to physically enhance the body once they put it on. Developed from medical monitoring systems designed for elderly patients, it has found common usage among the earthling space travelers.

Isaac had gotten down to his underwear, and put his clothes aside. But he paled, when he turned around and saw Gwen take off her underwear. He quickly turned his back to her, as he groaned, "Can you give me a little warning when you're gonna go all natural on me, Gwen?"

Gwen turned her head, as she taunted playfully, "Oh, come on, Isaac. It's not like we haven't seen each other naked."

"We're cousins, not boyfriend and girlfriend," Isaac stated.

"We used to bathe together when we were younger," Gwen replied, as she stepped into a booth chamber.

"We were five," Isaac replied, as he stepped in a similar booth.

"Yeah, but I seem to remember we went skinny dipping at that camping trip we had together," Gwen smirked as the door closed.

"Yeah, but we were like 10 back then," Isaac argued, as the door closed behind him.

But Gwen shook her head, "Oh, stop being such a prude, Isaac."

Once the doors to the booths closed, the two were levitated off the floor about six inches, floating in the air for a moment.

Once they were secure in the air, a small black blot no bigger than a dodge ball appeared from under each of them, slowing rising up to meet their bodies. Each of their black blot spheres suddenly stretched and branched out two tentacles that moved around. As the tentacles reached their bare feet, each blot started off by encasing one teen by their feet in its black spandex skin. It began to slither up their bare skin, linking and wrapping around their flesh all over their bodies.

The black blots had finally slunked their way up to their hands, and wrapped them up in web-like patterns, wrapping their hands and for some of them encasing some or all their fingers. The blots encased all over their skin, encasing most of their bodies, and smoothing out, forming on them tight full-body black spandex suits.

And yet each one was differently designed.

For Gwen, she was mostly covered from neck to toe, save for her arms and her back, which ended just above her tailbone. And Isaac's was a full body suit except for his forearms, calves, and feet.

The two teens had been fully clothed now, but weren't let back down on the ground. Then suddenly, two large sections of wall between the sarcophagi opened up, revealing storage compartments for various kinds of equipment. Robotic arms then extended out, fitting their bodies with the armor needed. Once the arms were done, the two were sent back down on their shoed feet, and were fully suited up.

Isaac's armor was an orange brown vest that clung to his chest, a collar around the collar bone of his neck, with two shoulder guards with white rectangles on them, and had two orange brown bicep rings on his biceps. His forearms were shielded in orange brown forearm guards and white elbow pads, and his hands were in fingerless orange brown gloves with cuffs around his wrists, and white fingers. He wore a white utility belt and a pair of slacks armor with the inner thighs and crotch exposed, with white trip on the inside. Two circular orange brown and white trimmed kneepads were in place and large orange brown and white boots with mini rockets on the ankles were placed on. And to complete his armor, an oval diamond shaped backpack was linked onto him, with a blue gauge on the back, and a green circular gauge shown as well.

Gwen's armor was a sapphire blue tank top that clung to her chest, but exposed her cleavage area in an upside down pentagon, with a white dial in the end of the part where her ribs connected to her abdomen in front. On her right arm, she had a blue bicep ring, and a forearm guard, but on her left arm, she had a computer console forearm guard, but both hands had fingerless blue gloves with blue cuffs and white fingers, but black thumbs. Circular shoulder guards with white circles in the center of it. She wore a white utility belt around her waist and blue slacks guards that exposed her upper thighs and pelvic region. On the sides of the slacks were white circular compacts with different uses to them. Her boots were blue and white, with the same ankle mini rockets, and white and blue bottom parts for the boots. On her back was a blue oval diamond pack in place, with the same gauges as were on Isaac's suit.

The doors opened, as the two walked out, fully suited up, as Isaac stated, "I'll be right back, I'm going to the armory to get some weapons."

Gwen shook her head, knowing full well that was a pointless idea, "Isaac. This is a search and rescue mission. No weapons."

Isaac sighed, as he shrugged, "I wasn't planning on using them."

"Then why bother," she asked.

Isaac looked up at the ceiling in thought, but then back to her, as he stated, "Same principle as a condom: I'd rather have one and not need it, then need it… and not have one."

Gwen blinked for a moment, and let a half smirk spread on her face, "You know, that's actually the first physics principle that would make sense at all."

Isaac chuckled at that, as he walked towards the armory to gear up. At that moment, Gwen looked around to see any of the crew suiting up. They all seemed to be wearing a standard black latex under-suit with gray or black armor; gray for the research/medical team, and the black armor for military. But then Gwen spotted something that made her eyes go wide as saucers on it.

She saw Rei stepping out of a SIG suit chamber, in an exact replica of her SIG suit, only it was colored white. Rei was outfitting her left arm laptop computer, as Gwen walked up to her. Once she stopped, she asked, "Rei, what are you doing?"

"I'm accompanying you on this search and rescue mission, as well as look through the supposed temple," Rei answered.

"Well, yeah, I get that," Gwen asked, but then pointed to her suit. "But why are you wearing a SIG suit?"

Rei stopped, as she slowly turned to Gwen, and asked the confused redhead, "I beg your pardon?"

Gwen felt she had offended the android, and she understood what offense would mean. So she held her hands in defense, as she innocently stated, "Well, I'm not trying to be insulting, but you don't breathe. So why…?"

"Why wear a SIG suit?" Rei inquizzed upon. She then replied, calmly as ever, "As they say, "When in Rome, do as the Romans". But I understand your confusion on the true subject at hand." She then explained, "I was designed like this because you are more comfortable interacting with your own kind rather than something that looks more machine. If I didn't wear a suit, it would defeat the purpose entirely."

Gwen thought about it and seemed to take in the logic. Rei was built and programmed to be more human; to fit in with the others as well as the crew. It really would have defeated the purpose if she didn't wear the suit or the helmet. But Gwen broke the ice further, as she asked, "Is that the only reason?"

Rei went back to her arm laptop, as the holographic screen shown, "The SIG suit also has more hard drive space. At least this way I won't overload with too much information and data."

Gwen shrugged, "Oh. Well, that's cool"

At that moment, Ken Heels walked out wearing his SIG suit. It had the same skin tight black under suit, but the design was different from Isaac's. The chest was V-shaped with the same kind of collar Isaac and Gwen's suits had, but had rings around the shoulders. The arms had no armor whatsoever, but the hands had red fingerless gloves and grey fingers and collars. He had the same holster leggings as Isaac, but his boots were black and red instead of white and red.

He walked over to the two, acting smug as ever, as he slapped the two on the butt cheeks, "Hey, girls. Lookin' sexy as ever in those space suits."

Both jumped from the slap, but Gwen turned to look at Ken, and angrily fumed, "You stupid jackass, Ken! Can't you take this seriously?!"

"C'mon," Ken said, as he looped his arms around the resisting Gwen. "Don't tell me you never thought about hookin' it up with me, Gwen?"

"How about you get a life?" she shot back.

But now his anger was getting the better of him, as he shot back, "Hey, listen you. I don't know what you think or not. Believe me this: my family and I are the ones doing all the maintenance on this ship. And if I hit on you, I expect you to get on all fours, and…"

"Is there a problem?"

The rant was interrupted, as Isaac walked forward, but not alone, as it was not his voice that spoke up. It was Jeff Carter's voice, as he had joined up with them, and was now armed with a pistol like Isaac had on his right hip, as well as a rifle hooked up behind. He wore the same skin tight under suit as the others, but unlike the SIGs everyone had, his was more military. It was grey but heavily armored up, but it seemed that it was light enough for him to move or run in. His SIG pack was rectangular with the same gauges as the others, but had a third red gauge for some unknown purpose. But despite the fact he was eighteen, the scar on his face, added with the armor and weapons would make him someone you didn't want to mess with.

And Ken got the picture, as he let go of Gwen and made distance, "Nope. Nothing to be concerned with." And then just walked off, leaving the four be.

Isaac walked over to his cousin, placing a hand on her shoulder, as he asked, "What'd he do?"

"Ugh! He tried hitting on me; getting all possessive in the process," Gwen replied, as she rubbed her arm, shivering in disgust. "When this day's over, I need to take a hot scolding shower on where he touched me."

But then Kevin walked up, as he asked looking at her in concern, but kept himself reserved, "You sure you're okay with him walking out on this?"

Gwen was a bit taken by that kind reaction, and the show of concern. 'Wow,' she thought, as she slowly gazed at him, as he looked at her, 'Here I thought he was just some quiet guy with scary scars on him. but now…' her face flushed a little, as her mind was almost drawn to a blank upon gazing at his face.

Jeff didn't take the hint something was wrong with her, but shrugged, as he pulled away, "Well, the next time he does that, he'll pull back what used to be his hand." And then walked towards the other soldiers.

Gwen continued with her gazing at him, until Isaac asked, "Hey, you alright?"

Realizing she had been staring nonstop, Gwen finally broke out of it, as she breathed regularly, "Y-Yeah, I'm okay."

Isaac blinked, not believing a word she had said. Something was up with her, and she was flushed like crazy. Isaac assumed the weirdest idea, as he asked, "Are you crushing on that guy?"

Realizing what he had just said, Gwen feverishly shook her head, as she almost screamed out, "N-No! Of course not!"

"Then what the heck was that look of wanting on your face about?"

At that question, Gwen's face lit up redder than ever, as she finally shouted out to him, punching him lightly, "NOTHING"S WRONG!"

At that moment, Captain Marek, dressed in the similar SIG suit that Carter was wearing walked in, alogn with two other men, as he called out to get everyone's attention, "Alright, everybody, listen up! Gather round."

As they gathered around, Isaac had to tease his cousin, by asking more questions, "So what is it that attracts you to him? Animal magnetism? Desire to mate with the strongest of the pack? Or are you in to the whole bad boy soldier thing?"

Gwen was really hating her existence, as she groaned, "Please just leave it alone, Isaac."

"Ladies and gentlemen? Listen up," Marek announced, as everyone got their undivided attention. "While this is a search and rescue mission, it's our job to keep each other alive on this, and I need your help to do that. Since we don't have the time to properly train everyone, I'm gonna lay down three simple rules. One: no one goes alone anywhere without your buddy. Two: every must maintain constant communication. And three: unexpected stuff is gonna happen. When they do, nobody try to be a hero. Got it?" He looked over to Jeff, and Ken as well, as he asked again, "Understood?"

"Yes sir," Jeff responded, standing straight as a board.

Ken merely shrugged, "Sure, whatever."

Marek nodded, "Good. Then let's go, people. We've got a job to do."

* * *

 **Later On**

 **Cargo/Docking Bay**

At the bottom of the Falcon, a portion of the ship the size of a medium-sized parking lot folded down to the surface of the planet, safely dropping and landing on it.

Once they were all suited up, they were boarding one of the vehicles that was carried aboard for terrain travel, the RT Series Group Transport, or Rover for short. It was a six-wheeled heavily armored tank van-like space vehicle. It was a heavily armored personnel carrier, produced by the Wayward Industries, and was one of its most popular and best-selling products. The wheels were made of shape-memory alloy and nano-reinforced hard-composite treads that could resist temperatures of up to 2000 Fahrenheit. The ceramic turbine engine had 4 million lbs of thrust, making its cargo weight virtually unlimited. And with a 5.7 meter wheelbase, this bad boy was able to fit up to 20 occupants. But it was only carrying the 10 search team members, including Isaac, Gwen, Jeff, Ken, and the captain.

The crew entered through folding doorways on the side, driver's seat and co-driver's seat, as well as the rear entrance, and sat down in safe and very comfy seats.

Once Isaac was the last to enter through the rear entrance, everyone pressed the button on their collar. Out of the back and front of the suit collars, their helmets folded out and into place, linking together to form their helmets. Isaacs was a brown and white helmet, with a silver diamond-shaped mouth piece, a visor that was black, but had two glowing eyes. Gwen's helmet was blue and white, with a Mohawk search light on top, and a mini light on the left side of her helmet, and a blue visor with two white glowing orbs that shined in. Rei's helmet was white and silver, with a pilot's visor, making it more like a NASA and Air force helmet put together. Ken's helmet was red and white with a dark visor showing on the front, and two red eyes glowing there, making it look like some kind of robot visor. Jeff's helmet, along with the others, was of military helmet design, with a blue visor showing no glow at all.

Gwen sat parallel to her cousin, while Rei sat down next to Isaac. Ken, on the other hand, tried to sit near Gwen, but she kept scooting away from him. When he tried to sit next to her again, he heard a gruff sound, like a growl. He looked and saw Jeff glaring at him through the visor. Once that was done, Ken backed away, huffing and grumbling something like 'party pooper' or 'Virgin Mary' or something else that made Jeff insulted into a queer of sorts.

Once they all boarded the vehicle, the cargo bay door opened down slowly, as the Rover drove slowly forward. It then picked up speed when it touched the darkened gravel terrain of the surface of Aegis 7, and made its way to the Prometheus.

As they drove in its direction, Isaac looked to Rei and simply said in their suits' communicator systems, "Well, in a situation like this, I'd be saying, 'This is just one small step for Mankind', but that would just sound cheesy. I mean, it's an old saying; I don't think anyone would want to say it. But, well, you know… it'd seem like an important thing to say at the time." He didn't get a response from her, as she seemed intent to look forward at the window. Feeling defeat in his attempt to talk to her, Isaac sighed, "Sorry. If I'm bugging you…"

"It's alright," Rei responded, catching his attention, as he turned to her, and she to him, as she responded. "I like old sayings."

Isaac smiled under his helmet, as Gwen smirked at the scene, "Awww, are you two having a lovers' moment?"

Isaac picked that up, and frowned under his mask, "Shut up."

But Rei was interested, as she saked, "Lovers' moment?"

"Don't ask," Isaac groaned.

But Ken, being the insensitive jerk, pushed it further, "Hard to believe you want to get it on with a robot."

"Yeah, like you weren't gonna try back in the Equipping Room," Isaac shot back. It was quiet again, as Ken was defeated verbly, but then a thought passed into Isaac's head. something that had been troublesome for him for a while. He looked to Rei, as he asked, "Rei?" She turned to him yet again, as he asked, "You said the message that they received from the Prometheus was, 'Liberatis Me', which is 'Save me' in Latin, right?"

She nodded, "Yes. But like I responded, I couldn't make out the rest."

"They said, Save me," he stated, and then asked, "… but from what? It's just a little weird that they would send a message like that on an uninhabitable planet."

"You think they ran out of life support?" Gwen asked.

Rei shook her head, as she explained, "The Prometheus is much like the Falcon; it has life support for two years on this journey; to and from this planet respectfully. It seems impossible, but in light of the transmission… I calculate that the crew might have managed to endure until now."

After a moment of silence, contemplating on Rei's explanation of the situation before them, Ken finally asked, "Someone tell me if we're getting hazard pay for this?"

At that moment, the vehicle came to a stop, indicating that they had arrived, as the doors opened. Once everyone hopped out, they saw the condition of the Prometheus before them. It looked like it was still in one piece, but it seemed a bit dinged up. But at the moment, Rei lifted her right arm up, as a blinking light appeared on the back of her hand.

"Scanning for life readings," Rei announced, as she took a scan of the Prometheus. Once she was done, she brought up her left forearm, as a holographic display of the Prometheus's schematics, as it was being scanned. "The ship's reactors are still active and hot. Although there are small radiation sources, leaks perhaps. Though they appear not to be serious to take as health risks."

"Is there pressure," Marek asked.

Rei shook her head, as she continued to examine the results. "Affirmative. The hull appears to remain intact, but the thermal units are offline. There appears to be deep cold; the crew couldn't survive unless they were in stasis." But then she frowned, as she looked at the screen, almost seeing if there was a mistake, "Something's wrong with the bio-scan."

"Radiation interference," Gwen asked.

Rei shook her head, as she explained, "There's not enough to throw off the scanners. However, I'm picking up trace life forms, but I can't get a lock on the location."

"It could be the crew," Isaac suggested.

"If it were they would be in stasis, but if they were in stasis, they would show a location," Rei explained. "But these readings are all over the ship. It doesn't seem logical."

Marek nodded, as he announced to everyone, "Alright then, we'll do it the hard way. Deck by deck, room by room." He looked at each of them, as he decided on the teams, "Rei, you're with me; we'll search medical. Carter, you accompany Miss Tenalds to the Bridge. Shepard, you and Heels investigate cargo."

Everyone agreed to it, but Isaac, who didn't want to go anywhere with his high school bully, asked, "Um… couldn't I go with you to medical and one of the soldiers could go with Heels?"

"Negative, they gotta keep and maintain communication with the Falcon," Marek stated. "You two need to get over whatever you two have, and just suck it up. Let's go, people! We have a crew to look for!"

Isaac sighed, as everyone made their way to the entrance, while Ken roughly padded him on his right shoulder, rather roughly, "Let's have some fun, Shep." He then mockingly toned, "And let's try to get along, okay?"

* * *

 **Prometheus**

 **Inside**

The search team entered in, as the inner airlock door opened for them. The trio of teams entered into the airlock, which pretty much looked the same as the Falcon's, since the two ships were of the same model. At that moment, Isaac touched his belt's right side, to which a small but strong safety line appeared, and hooked it to Ken's left.

Seeing the movement and spooked from the action, Ken pushed at Isaac, almost wanting to pick a fight, as he shot, "The hell are you doing, Queer?!"

"I'm attaching a safety line to each other," Isaac explained, being more composed than his teammate. "I don't want to walk to the cargo bay and then find out you wander off disobeying an order."

"What? You in need of a baby leash," Ken mocked.

"No, I'd rather be on the rope and not need it than need it and not have it," Isaac explained, using his Condom Principle. "You might try it sometime if you need a condom for a girl. If you ever get one."

Ken huffed, as he shoved Isaac out of his way, "Whatever, just keep your nose clean."

Marek reported back at the Falcon's Bridge, to where Vickers and his copilots, Chance and Ravel. He tapped a comm link on the left side of his helmet, connecting with the Falcon's Bridge, as he reported, while the trio back on the Falcon watched the suit's cam monitors like kids watching Christmas.

"We've reached the inside of the Prometheus," Marek reported.

The teams looked around the corridor as they saw nothing but darkness in both directions. The dim emergency lights manifested as remote pools of blue light amidst endless black, adding to the vastness of the Prometheus's innards. On their shoulders, small lights folded out, as the light from them, as well as Gwen's helmet, reflected off tiny ice crystals of either a leak or from the atmosphere long sealed inside the ship. They were like ants in a tomb built for giants, and the giants were all gone.

"Ice crystals everywhere," Marek reported. "This place is in major deep freeze." He then looked to the groups, as he reminded the mission teams, "Alright, people, you know where you need to be. Rei and I are in Medical, Tenalds and Carter the Bridge, and Shepard and Heels in the Cargo Bay. And remember: no hot-dogging, alright?"

Isaac saluted, "Not a chance, sir."

The teams then separated, going to their respective locations to find the crew of the Prometheus. Although they were alone, it seemed the darkness that the abandoned ship seemed to come alive with their arrival.

As they journeyed to the bridge, Gwen looked at her own holo computer screen on her left arm, as she looked through the ship's database. She then frowned in her helmet, "That's odd. The life support escape pod is still on this ship. Nobody abandoned it."

"So where the heck are they," Jeff asked, walking alongside Gwen. "You pick up any bio-scans?"

Gwen shook her head, as she explained, "I've been running diagnostics with Rei's suit, but…"

"Let me guess: you're still getting those trace life readings all over the ship?" he asked. She nodded, to which Jeff asked, "Don't tell me those scanners in the suits are broken?"

Gwen shook her head, "No, there's no indication of it at all. They're running perfectly."

The two stopped, as they looked around the hallway they walked in, as Jeff stated, "But there's no one here but us."

"Not according to the computer," Gwen replied.

The two looked around the darkened area, their lights showing through the darkness. But then the two spotted splotches of dark and moist clumps of what appeared to be… fleshy. They were dripping steaming, almost as if they were alive. Nothing seemed normal about this in anyway, as the two looked to one another, both feeling a little uneasy about this, as Jeff drew out his rifle.

Gwen returned forward, and stated hastily, "Let's keep going to the bridge."

"I'm with you on that," Jeff replied, as they made their way to the bridge.

* * *

 **Medical Bay/ Gravity Hyper Sleep Chamber**

The hatch opened, allowing Marek and Rei to enter in to the deck leading to the Hyper Sleep Chamber and Medical Bay. The areas were intended for human habitation and medical emergencies. The gravity couches were lined and in place, more than twenty in all. And they were all empty.

Marek reported to the Falcon, "We found the Gravity Couches and Medical."

" _Any survivors_ ," Vickers asked.

"Negative," Rei replied. "If you looked on our cam monitors, you would be the first to know."

" _Just shut up and give us the heads up, Canner_ ," Vickers replied, rather racist to Rei.

Marek and Rei moved through the deserted medical lab area. Empty operating tables, stainless steel surgical instruments that had barely been used. And Marek made it clear when he reported, "No signs in Medical. No casualties, no blood stains. It's like the place was barely used."

But then Rei stopped, as she shined her light on the operation table in the dark… and saw the same flesh spots that Gwen and Jeff had encountered. "Captain, I found something."

Marek walked over, as he saw what she was looking at, and then looked as confused as the two teens heading to the Bridge. "What the hell is that?"

* * *

 **Prometheus Bridge**

As the door opened to the Bridge, Gwen and Jeff entered in, with Jeff's rifle at the ready. As they entered the chamber, black crystals had formed on the ice on the walls, due to the cold. Gwen looked around, as she gulped, "What is this stuff?"

"Some kind of space fungus?" Jeff asked.

Gwen stopped, as she turned around to face him. He couldn't tell, but she was frowning under the helmet, as she groaned in annoyance to him, "Don't even make a joke like that."

"I wasn't joking," Jeff stated.

Gwen took out one of the spheres on her leggings, and it folded into a sample container. "Good, because it wasn't funny," she replied, as she carefully took a sample of the frozen black substance.

Once she had it, the two moved on, as the blue emergency lights illuminated the ceilings, showing what appeared to be twisted version of human beings, frozen in anger and predatory rage. Something had happened to the crew, in an inhuman and violent way. And the worst part was that nobody was noticing the horror above or around them.

Once they were on the bridge, Gwen reported to the Falcon, "We're on the bridge."

"What do you got," Chance replied.

"Everything's been shut down," Gwen replied, as she examined the other consoles. Most were dark but for a few dim lights due to the emergency systems. "At a guess, they're conserving power. Green light on the hull at least, it's all intact."

Jeff contacted Marek, as he asked, "How's medical?"

"Medical has power. I'll see if I can find any clues about the crew's location," Marek replied.

Gwen looked around, and spotted the console, as she walked over to it, and spotted a small video deck. "Wait a minute, I think I found the ship's log. Might tell us what happened here."

Jeff walked over to her location, as she pushed the eject button. Nothing happened, as Gwen huffed, "C'mon."

"What's wrong," he asked.

"It's jammed in there," Gwen replied, as she took a probe from her belt, and then inserted it into the video deck. A small laser dis emerged partway from the deck. Gwen attempted to pull it out, by pulling on it, but it didn't budge, as she grew infuriated, "Jammed really good."

Jeff lightly pushed her aside, as he pulled at it for her, "I got it."

As he pulled at it, and Gwen watched, something above them started to move. Without them knowing, someone… or something… was in there with them.

Jeff pulled harder, with no results. Gwen reached in to help, and the two helped one another, until finally with a little more effort, they pulled the disc free. The two spun around in the room, and then…

… a body fell in front of them, halfway free from the ceiling; the face illuminated by their shoulder and helmet lights. Jeff jumped back, his rifle at the ready, as Gwen let out a startled shrieked gasp of fear. But it didn't move, as it hung there, frozen to the ceiling. Those aboard the Falcon were a bit startled as well, as everyone got a good look at the body before them, and even above as Jeff looked above the ceiling to see the rest of it.

The being that what appeared to be a man had specialized enlarged arms sporting sharp blade-like protrusions of a mixture of bone and metal. They appeared to be entirely new appendages sprouting from the shoulder blades. There also seemed to be a lower set of arms; possibly the original arms clapped down ot the sides of the body, but had turned into spindly vestigial limbs. The bones on the feet were fused and lengthened while the heel bone was extended almost parallel to the angle of the sole, forming some kind of sharp peg aiding in balance. Its lower jaw had split down, making it into a pair of mandibles, as its stomach had opened to reveal it became a vaginal mouth of sorts. The whole body seemed to have fused with its suit, showing indications of organic technology. This thing wasn't a man… at least not anymore.

Gwen, regaining her composure, finally spoke up, "I think we found one of the crew."

"Alive," Marek asked.

Jeff replied, "Frozen… and heavily mutilated."

* * *

 **Falcon Bridge**

The crew, now with Ford with them, looked at the screen, as they saw the mutated man beast's face, leering at them with dead socket-less eyes from Gwen and Jeff's monitors. Ravel asked in fear, "That's a man?"

"What the hell happened to him," Chance asked.

Vickers, not showing any fear, simply replied, "Maybe somebody got axe crazy and mutilated somebody into that thing."

"Maybe…" Ford replied, as she looked at the body in fascinated terror, "But from what I'm looking at, and I'll need a closer examination, but it looks like the arms with the blades grew out of the back."

They were all silent on that, as Vickers looked to her, still showing her calm, "You don't know that."

Ford shrugged her head to the side, "Not yet, at least."

* * *

 **Back on the Prometheus**

 **Cargo Bay**

Both Ken and Isaac were walking about the vast chamber of the Cargo bay. Once pristine, all the surfaces were coated in the same black crap that were in spots around the ship. But it wasn't just the goop that was present. Around some parts, there were slash marks all over the place. It was almost as if whatever was on the bridge had been born in the cargo bay and lashed out at everyone.

"What the hell happened here," Ken asked, looking at a large gash on the wall.

Isaac looked for a light source, as he replied, "Haven't a clue. It's pitch black here; I can't see a damn thing." But then he spotted what appeared to be a control console as he walked towards it. He looked at the console, and saw dim lights on it. He examined it, as he pushed a button, "Found the light switch here."

"Good, switch it on," Ken told him. "This place is freaking me out!"

"Already did," Isaac responded triumphantly, as the lights shined all around the place.

But as it did, the whole place looked like a warzone. Vehicles had been torn through, almost as if someone was forcing their way through violently with a strong blade. The slashes on the walls were evident, with black splotches everywhere. The whole place looked like a massacre had begun in there. Ken backed away to Isaac backwards, not knowing what was behind him.

"Sheepy… let's get the heck out of here," he warily replied. But he didn't get an answer, as it remained quiet. "Sheepy? Shepard?"

He stopped as he hit Isaac's back, as the latter replied, "Yeah, I'm here. But ah… I think you gotta see this…"

Ken turned around, as he was in awe at what Isaac was looking at. There before them, connected to cables and wires that were linked to the ship, was a massive sphere, ten meters in diameter, dominated the center of the room. Intricate machinery was connected to it, as well as the console to the sphere but the globe itself had a feature; three rings constantly rotating around the smooth sphere. It was an enigmatic monolith, with the ice encrusting it, giving it the seeming-less notion it was a living thing.

Isaac managed to speak out in their awe, "What the hell is this thing?"

Ken shook his head, "It's not part of the blueprints of either the Prometheus or the Falcon. I'll give you that."

Isaac walked forward, looking at the rotating rings around the sphere, looking for any indication on where it came from or what it was. As he looked around, Ken leaned on the console, unintentionally pushing one of the buttons.

* * *

 **Back on the Falcon**

As they were looking on screen, Isaac and Ken's monitors were filled with static. This caused a little urgency on Chance's side, as he tried to contact them, "Shepard? Heels? You two are breaking up? Shepard? Heels? "

* * *

 **Back at the Prometheus**

 **Cargo Bay**

Isaac noticed the rings stopped, as he looked at Ken, as he asked, "What'd you do?"

Ken got up, as he mouthed off, "I was leaning, what the hell is it to you?"

"What if this thing's a bomb?" Isaac shouted.

Suddenly, the orb lit up, bright as a sun, getting their attention. The two shielded their eyes, as the light grew brighter. And then finally after a while, it died down in seconds, as the two were able to see again. But when they did, they couldn't make heads or tails with what they saw. The rings had stopped in the center, and where the sphere should have been… a black hole appeared in it.

The two boys blinked at the scene, as Ken replied, "Well, I think you can assume it's not a bomb." But then he noticed Shepard walking to it, as he asked, slightly angered and freaked out, "What the hell are you doing?"

"Gotta figure out what's going on here," Isaac replied. He gently touched his fingertips at the hole, but then realized the hole was some kind of black pool in the rings' center. He dug his fingertips in there, scooping out a little bit of the black, and then it pulled back, almost as if it were alive. Isaac blinked at this astonishment, "Whoa. It's like this stuff's alive."

"Maybe you should pull back then," Ken calmly advised. "Seriously, I do stupid shit on a basis, but this is too much."

But Isaac didn't respond, as he dug in again the black ooze that light seemed unable to penetrate. As he planned to pull back, he felt a force tugging on his hand. He tried to pull back calmly, but it was becoming more forced, as he realized, "Oh shit…!"

And then he was sucked into the pool, screaming, as he was seemingly pulled in. Ken screamed out in terror, but grabbed onto the console, as the line furiously pulled at him as the rest took along with Isaac in the black pool.

Suddenly, a powerful surge of power blew from the core, bending light like a ripple in a pond, pushing debris before it, as well as knocking Ken further from the sphere. The waves surged forward, blowing out emergency lights as it came, flotsam and jetsam swirling in its wake. The same waves struck as a deep roar filled the Prometheus, alerting Marek and the others. The door in the medical wing blew apart, as the waves struck, rippling throught eh medical bay towards Marek and Rei, slamming them both into a bulkhead.

Rei recovered quickly, not able to feel pain, as she heard Ken's voice in a staticked frequency, "Somebody… help! Sheperd… can't see him… Cargo Bay… SHEPARD!"

Rei bolted out of the room, leaving Marek to get back on his feet by himself. It was happening everywhere, as the waves shot in and out of the Prometheus, hitting not just the Alien Temple, but also the Falcon.

* * *

 **Falcon**

 **Bridge**

The waves struck the ship, threatening to tear the Falcon apart. The ship shuddered violently, as consoles went crazy, alarms blazed, and total chaos erupted on the brother of the Prometheus, as the crew held on for dear life.

"Captain, do you read me," Chance called. "Tenalds! Carter! Anybody!"

Vickers was less than calm now, as she cried out, "Where the hell is everybody?!"

"We're trying to find them right now, Ma'am," Revel replied.

An equipment rack ignited, as Ravel ran from his post, and grabbed an extinguisher, fighting the blaze. Things were not going well on the ship, as it was on the Prometheus.

* * *

 **Back on the Prometheus**

Rei was running like crazy, as she had made it to the Cargo bay. Once she opened the door, she saw Ken feverishly pull at the cable Isaac had attached them both to. Rei ran over, as she grabbed the line, and asked, "Where is Shepard?"

Ken frantically pointed at the black pool in the sphere at them, "H-He… in there!"

Rei looked at the black pool, and then her protocols to protect the lives of the crew were switched on. She pulled at the line quickly, getting slacker out of it. It went on for what felt like five minutes, until the darkness of the pool rippled. And then suddenly, Isaac emerged quickly from the darkness, like a cork shooting out of a bottle of champagne. Isaac crashed on the floor, skidding ot the two, as the pool phased out, and the sphere returned to normal, as Isaac's motionless body lay sprawled on the floor.

Rei ran over to him, gently pushing him up in a sitting position, as she inspected the Life Gauge on the SIG. It was still in full blue, as she reported, "He's still alive…"

"And sore as hell," Isaac groaned out.

Rei realized that, as she gently leaned him back on her lap. She looked at him, as she asked, "Are you alright?"

"Like I said: sore as hell," Isaac groaned out yet again. "Ugh. Remind me again to thank myself for wanting to go on this little field trip."

Rei reported to Marek, "Captain, I'm in the Cargo Bay. Isaac Shepard and Ken Heels are alive and well. Though Isaac is a bit sore as hell, as he reports."

* * *

 **Back in Med Bay**

Marek got his bearing back, as he leaned on the wall, "Boarding Party, sound off… Tenalds, Carter, do you read me?" Silence for a moment, which got to Marek, as he finally yelled out, "Son, are you there?!"

" _Yeah, I'm here, Dad_ ," Jeff replied.

Marek sighed in relief, "Good to hear your voice again, boy. Have you and Tenalds get that last call?"

" _Yeah, we did_ ," Jeff replied. " _We also got the Falcon; I'll patch you through_."

* * *

 **Falcon**

At the bridge, everyone was continuously trying to hold on, as another vibration built up, and a second wave struck. Sparks flew as the consoles went crazy yet again. Deep in the ship, metal was screaming, followed by the shriek of escaping atmosphere. An emergency klaxon rung out:

PRESSURE WARNING! PRESSURE WARNING!

Chance shouted out, "We lost the starboard baffle! The hull's been breached!" The bridge pressure door began to close, and then stopped. "The safety circuit's failed! We're losing atmosphere!"

"There are pressure SIG suits in the airlock! Go!"

Chance, Revel, Vickers, and Ford ran following Chance, as they ran the length of the ship for the airlock bay, as did most of the crew, as they were already suiting up. As they got to the airlock suit area, Marek spoke on the link, " _Chance! Revel! Can anybody hear me?!_ "

"I read you, Captain!" Chance shouted out.

" _Chance, where have you been all my life?!_ "

"We have a situation, sir," Chance responded. Vickers and Revel were already suited up, as Chance was halfway done. Ford was helped with one of the other security guards, as Chance went on, "We lost the starboard baffle, and the hull's cracked. Our safety seals didn't close, the circuit's fried..."

" _Is there enough time for a weld?_ "

"We wouldn't have enough time to fart!" Revel replied.

"He's right," Chance agreed, as he explained the situation further. "We're losing pressure at 280 liters a second, the reserve tanks didn't kick in, and our oxygen tanks are cracked. In three minutes, our atmosphere will be gone! We are fucking dead!"

"What about the Prometheus!?" Ford screamed out. "It still has air and reserve power; we can activate the life support!"

Revel thought about it, as he shrugged, "It might be our only chance!"

"There's no way in hell I'm going aboard that thing! What if the air's bad?" Vickers protested, not wanting to go on that ship. "We don't even know what happened on that ship!"

"It beats dying, Miss Vickers," Chance shouted back.

* * *

 **Back on the Prometheus**

Marek was making his way to the Bridge, as he responded, "Mister Chance and Mister Revel are right. Get on board the Prometheus. I'll meet you soon."

" _But…_ "

"You wanna live, get on the extra ship, now," Marek shot back, not wanting to argue about the subject at hand. As soon as he got to the bridge, he saw Gwen and Jeff hard at work, while also trying to ignore the mutated body still hanging up on the roof. "You two get all that?"

"I'm way ahead of you, captain," Gwen replied, as she was working magic on the unused console. "Bringing the thermal units online…" She flipped a series of circuit breakers, and then reached for the final switch, "Hold tight and prep for whatever's about to happen."

At that moment, everything hummed back to life. Lights went on all around the place, as the computers and equipment hummed back to life. Even in the cargo bay, as Rei, Isaac, and Ken were about to leave the room.

* * *

 **Moments Later**

 **Prometheus**

The lights shined from the Prometheus as power was once again restored. No longer cloaked in the darkness of the planet, it was revealed in all its splendorous glory, a monument of what was once an exploration ship, now a tomb with its cadavers missing. Once all the crew had come back to the bridge, minus Ford and Isaac who was looking over the boy, as Marek and the others were restoring the dead Prometheus back to working conditions. So far, the ship seemed to work properly, but Marek looked to Chance and Revel who were hard at work.

"How's it going boys," Marek asked.

Chance stopped for a moment, as he reported, "Well, we restored most of the ship's primary life-support functions and systems up. But we don't know how long that'll last for."

Marek nodded, and then looked to Revel, as he reported, "The antennae array's fried, we've got no radio, no laser, no high gain… zip. Even if we scavenge the Falcon, we won't be hearing from the Ishimura to come help us."

"How much O2 do we have?"

"O2's not the problem," Chance pointed out. "It's the CO2; Carbon Dioxide we need to worry about. It's building up with every breath we make. And the CO2 filters on the Prometheus are all shot."

"Why not take the filters from the Falcon," Gwen spoke up, getting everyone's attention. Once she felt confident again, she explained, "With the filters from the Falcon, we've got enough breathable air for 2-3 days."

"She's right," Revel defended. "It might buy us some time to fix the Falcon again."

"Something else you should know," Chance pointed out. "The Prometheus' sensors show the same thing: Bio-reading of indeterminate origin. Right before that wave hit the Falcon, there was a huge surge, right off the scale. But now, everything's back to normal."

"What's causing the readings?" Marek asked.

Gwen then cleared her throat, as she got their attention yet again, as she pointed out. "Um, well… I think I might know."

They all turned, as she pointed at the black clumps of flesh that seemed to cocoon themselves to the hulls of the ship. Marek sighed, as he walked out, with Gwen, Jeff, and Vickers following, knowing where he was heading to.

* * *

 **Medical Bay**

Isaac was sitting on a medical bed, the upper armor of the SIG suit off, as he was shown the bottom of the suit still on, while on top, with a sleeveless turtleneck part of the under suit on, with two brown orange diamond lines on each of his shoulders, going from peck to shoulder blade each. Ford was looking over Isaac, who seemed fit as a fiddle, after what happened to him. Once she was done looking at his pupil retractions, she closed up, and sighed in relief, "Well, physically you seem alright. No unusual side effects from whatever you went through."

"Glad to know that," Isaac groaned, as he got back to his feet.

At that moment, Marek and the others walked in, as Gwen ran up to her cousin, and hugged him. "You doofus. Glad you look okay," she politely berated him. she pulled back, and asked, "What happened to you back there?"

For a moment, Isaac's smile disappeared, as he remembered what happened. His mind went back, as he remembered getting sucked in that black hole, going down further and further down a tunnel until finally, he was brought out to a white light. And then…

Isaac shrugged, "I was… taken."

"Taken," Jeff asked, crossing his arms on this, as he listened. "Taken where?"

"Another galaxy," he replied. "Best I can say is I was sucked through that hole, and then I wound up at the end… and then I see myself floating in the abyss of a whole other universe. I saw stars. Lots of them… and they didn't belong where we're from or from this place. It was like one minute I was here, and the next… I'm in another galaxy in seconds rather than a year."

Vickers scoffed at that, as she stated, "Yeah right." She looked to Marek, as she asked, "You can't seriously believe him?"

"I believe in Rei; she reported seeing the same thing," Marek pointed out. "Not ot mention Heels is freaking out silently in the corner of the wreck room in this place. I have to assume whatever happened might end up happening again unless we know what the heck happened in the cargo bay."

"Well, maybe what he saw was an optical effect," Ford stated.

"And optical effect is no way that realistic," Isaac stated. "And you certainly don't feel weightlessness like I did."

Then Marek shrugged, "Alright then… what's in the Cargo Bay?"

* * *

 **Cargo Bay**

They all met there, as they saw the sphere with three rings still moving silently, like a window bobble on display. Rei had currently pulled up a log, as she explained, "From what I found on the ship's records, they found this artifact in the Temple. They dubbed it the Gateway Core. Apparently, they hooked up these monitors and consoles together in order to activate it, but they coudlnt use it on their ship. Apparently it creates a black hole, and using computers, they can focus its immense gravitational power to create a gateway anywhere in space."

They all heard that, as Gwen stated, "A Black Hole: the most descruticve force in the Universe." She then looked at Rei, as she asked, "And you're saying that they found something like this in that structure?"

Rei nodded, "Yes. Your uncle, Jonathan Shepard theorized that the Creators used this to travel around space."

"How they do that?" Jeff asked.

It was then that Isaac figured it out, as he snapped his fingers, "I think it's like a piece of paper. You want to get from Point A to Point B, and the shortest way to get from one point of origin to the other is Zero."

Jeff blinked, as he asked, "I thought it was a straight line?"

Isaac shook his head, "Nah, not really. But I think that's what this thing does: it folds space and time so that point A and B coexist in the same area. The ship goes through the gateway, and then space returns to normal. Just like that."

"I just can't believe these Creators built something like this," Gwen said in disbelief. "I mean, it's insane."

Marek walked around the Core, as he asked, "So if this thing was activated, it could have sent Shepard anywhere to wherever these Creators were last time?"

Rei nodded, "Theoretically."

Marek nodded, and then decided, "Right. I want this thing powered down and taken to the Falcon. The sooner it's off the Prometheus, the better we are from having this thing happen again."

"Why do we want this thing on the Falcon," Vickers pointed out.

"Because when this thing was activated, it didn't fry the Prometheus' systems," Marek stated. "I have a feeling that whatever ship it's on, it won't fry the system of the other." He then folded his arms, as he stated, "We still haven't found the crew of the Prometheus, and we're running out of light soon."

Isaac and Gwen looked to one another, and decided on it, as they both knew what they were thinking. Isaac spoke up, as he suggested, "What about the Temple? They might have moved some hyper gravity couches in there. They run on separate power sources."

Marek thought about it, and knowing it was worth a shot, sighed, as he nodded, "Alright. But a small team like before. Hope you're feeling better, everybody. You'll leave as soon as possible."

* * *

 **Next Chapter: Mysteries of the Prometheus and the Temple; Of Ghosts and Monsters**


	5. Mysteries of the Prometheus and Temple

**Explorers of the Universe**

* * *

 **Chapter 5: Mysteries of the Prometheus and the Temple; Of Ghosts and Monsters**

* * *

 **An Hour Later**

 **Alien Temple**

Once they had been prepped up and suited up, Isaac, Gwen, Rei, Jeff, and a reluctant Ken had traversed on the ATV NR6; a two-person transport vehicle with 4-tread, track-belted wheels that was able to negotiate near-vertical terrain carrying small payload. Once they got there, they looked over to find that the temple was a large, complex structure of sorts. It was far bigger than the Prometheus and the Falcon put together. As they approached it, they also saw carvings of skulls on the front. It almost looked like a grim version of Mount Rushmore.

Isaac grimaced, as he looked up at it, "Charming." He looked over to Ken, who seemed to be a bit calmer after what happened, and asked, "Don't suppose you could do a spectrograph of this structure? We'll need to know if this thing's natural… or if somebody put it here."

Ken shrugged, "Well, I can't tell if it's natural or not, Sheepy. But what I can tell you is this…" as he pointed forward, causing everyone to turn and look. There, they saw a crevice-like temple opening on the side of the temple wall. "It's definitely hollow."

Jeff radioed on comms, "Prometheus, are you getting this?"

" _Affirmative_ ," Marek spoke up. " _We see it on the vid screen on the main deck_."

Jeff looked to the others, "So is everyone ready?"

"Yeah," Isaac stated. "Let's go in."

As they looked at the fissure entrance, the darkness didn't seem all that inviting. In fact, the idea of going into an pyramid-like alien building didn't seem all that safe. And they still didn't have a clue on what happened to the crew of the Prometheus, much less any idea of where Isaac's parents were. The dangers of going in there weighed on everyone's shoulders and minds, as they stood at the crack of the black abyss in front of them.

Isaac sighed, as he genuinely asked, "Okay, so who wants to go into the creepy alien crypt?"

Ken looked to Rei, as he waved a gesture to the hole, "After you."

* * *

 **Inside**

After a small debate on going in, Isaac and Rei took the lead with the others to follow. They entered in, walking down a small hill of blackened sand and rock, entering inside the temple. It was dark with no illumination, as their suits activated their shoulder and helmet lighting. Small ports on the right shoulders opened up, as a small camera-like flashlight scope extended out, moving in the same direction they turned their heads to gaze about. The temple looked like a giant cavern on the inside, with nothing but darkened rock and shadows about. However, the corridors and pathways all had carved paths, indicating it was definitely man-made into the rock itself.

They entered into a fork in the hallway, leading ot three paths, as they stood unable to know what or where they should go. Gwen looked around, trying to decide which way to go, as she looked to her cousin, "Which one should we take?"

Isaac shook his head, "I don't know. But if we have a stick and let it fall to a pathway, we'll still be lost." Isaac turned to Ken, as he asked, "Can your SIG get a grid of the structure? We need a map."

Ken got on one knee, as he took off his SIG's pack, and opened the top compartment. From out of it, he was taking out small little metallic spheres roughly the size of baseballs. "If there's anything in here worth looking at, the PUPs will find them," Ken boasted, as he stood up, holding two of the now named PUPs.

"PUPs?" Isaac asked.

"PUPs," Rei answered. "Parameter Uplink Spectagraph. They were developed by Weyward Corp as the next generation piece of equipment for geologists and engineers. Its purpose is surveying unknown planetary terrain during the pre-terraforming process."

"Yep, my PUPs for ya," Ken boasted, as he threw them up in the air.

Suddenly, they barked to life, so to speak, as they spun in the air, hovering, and going down in several different corridors. Once the first two went, the other five began to activate as well, shooting in different directions. Once they did, they began to illuminate a laser like scanner, scanning the corridors they flew down, up, through, or above in, mapping the entire temple.

Ken radioed back to the Prometheus, "Prometheus, we are now mapping the temple."

"Copy that," Marek replied, as he and Vickers walked over to the holo-map table. Once they did, they saw the entire temple being mapped with every second. The temple's corridors and interior almost looked like a giant horseshoe, as all the crew aboard the Prometheus looked at it.

Back in the temple, the teens were going down a corridor to explore further now that they had a map being built. They were currently going down a tunnel, as instructed by Ken, who had the control console on his right wrist fo his suit. Once they ahd reached to the end, they entered into a bigger room, with a pit well of sorts in the center with some light. They heard the sounds of dripping water as they looked about. There, they saw stalagmites and stalactites being formed by the dripping water from eons ago. They all stopped to look around the place, hoping for another way to go.

But Gwen looked at her wrist-top, as she was getting a reading in the room. But once she did, she was amazed to say the least with what she had found. "Oh my God."

Isaac turned to her direction, and asked, "What?"

"The computer's scanned the humidity levels in this place," Gwen explained, as she looked to them. "The Sunlight from outside's heating the water within this place. You guys need to check the CO2 levels in here."

"What's the problem," Jeff asked, as he holstered his firearm.

"Nothing," Gwen replied. "It's just… out there, it's completely toxic, but in here…" she looked to them, as she confirmed, "It's breathable." After a short pause on that discovery, she then noticed Isaac adjusting his helmet. He was going to remove it. She tried to stop him, "Isaac, wait! The readings might be wrong! Don't be crazy!"

"Don't be so skeptical," Isaac said.

" _Mr. Shepard, I'm advising you not to remove_ …" Marek ordered. But it was too late, as Isaac's helmet was folding back, leaving Isaac's head exposed to the outside. Marek, grumbled, " _You opened it, didn't you?_ "

"ISAAC!" Gwen called out, looking in fear for her cousin and family.

The others were about to rush out to him, but he held his hand out, stopping them, as all they could do was stand and watch. Isaac held his head down, as he looked up, eyes closed. Finally, he let all the air out of his lungs, and then slowly breathed the air.

He opened his eyes, as nothing apparently happened to him, and smiled in relief, "Whew. I don't know what this is, but I think it's safe to assume it's air."

They all sighed in relief, as did Gwen, but then she stomped forward, and gently started to rap punches on Isaac's head, as she berated, "You stupid idiot! You drive me crazy with these antics!"

"Least it won't be stuffy in these suits all the time," Isaac defended, calming his cousin down.

She sighed as she pulled her helmet back, allowing herself to breathe the air, "Well… at least you were right. This is obviously air."

Sighing, Jeff radioed back to the Prometheus, "Prometheus, connect our suit cameras. If you're still watchin' this nutshow…" And then his helmet folded back, as he sighed, "We're takin' our helmets off. As it is breathable down here."

" _Copy that,_ " Marek replied back. " _Switching feeds_."

The group continued to go through the structure, still in their suits but now without their helmets. Though oddly enough, the air was certainly breathable. Though Ken asked, "So, why isn't the water frozen down here?"

Jeff shrugged, "Maybe it ain't water. Maybe it's alien urine."

"Oh, that's comforting to know," Isaac groaned, as he looked back at the two. "That's the big Theory, Mr. Science Guy? Alien piss?"

"Well, whatever it is, it's clean," Gwen stated, as she looked at the scanners.

Rei looked around at the walls of the darkened passageway they went down into next. As the others passed her by, she noticed strange glyph marks on the wall, and gently traced her fingers on the markings. In the process, she had scooped a little bit of what would have been considered sludge or mucus. But once Rei pulled her fingers close, holding a glob of it on her fingers, she gently pulled apart, seeing sparks of electrical energies lightly zapping.

"A technology based on organic substances," Rei deduced at the finding. "Impressive."

"What's impressive," Isaac asked, causing Rei to flinch a little: something she wasn't aware of doing. Isaac had stopped earlier as he saw that Rei wasn't following with them. He blinked, seeing her uneasiness, as he asked, "Did I startle you?"

Rei was a bit taken by that question, as she asked, "No, I believe I am not. You forget that I am Artificial Intelligence; if I were to feel fear, I would need the thing that Mr. Weyward said I required. A soul."

Isaac shrugged at that, but then asked, "Okay, but what kept you?"

She pointed at the glyphs, as she simply stated, "I believe the Creators that your parents described might have been more advanced than what was believed. They have naturally created a genetic technology that uses organics instead of mineral-based substances." She thought for a moment, and then traced the glyphs with her fingers still in the sludge.

"Hey, what are you doing," Isaac asked her, feeling a bit worried. "You don't know what that'll do."

The others doubled back, as soon as they saw that Isaac or Rei weren't following after them, as Gwen asked, "What's going on? What will do what?"

"If my theory is correct, this might be a computer console of sorts," Rei replied. "I'm attempting to access it."

"With snot," Ken asked, sounding unimpressed, as he stated to Jeff, "Robot's malfunctioning."

"Statistically, she's probably smarter than you, pal," Jeff stated.

Finally, Rei finished one glyph, and pulled back. But suddenly, the hallway lit up with a small light beam that trailed down the hallway, startling them all, as machines hummed back to life. The light beam itself looked like a cluster of fireflies or spores pulled in together to make a solid shape. It was awe-inspiring beautiful to them. But the beauty did not last, as a strange howling screech was made, clearly indicating that it was not human or friendly to begin with.

Ken gulped, as he asked, "What the heck is that?"

At that moment, coming down from where they walked out of, holographic figures made of the same light spores were running down the hallway… heading for them.

"Aren't you glad we brought weapons," Jeff stated, as he pulled out his rifle, and then fired blue shots at them. However, they went right through them, as they continued to run down their pathway.

Isaac gulped, "Come on!" And then ran forward, pulling Gwen with him. The others followed after them, as the figures continued to chase after them.

They weren't fast enough, as the figures were catching up to them. Weapons all but useless, they had no choice but to run for it… or so they thought. As the figures had reached up behind them… they went past them, or rather through them, as they were nothing but ghosts, as they ran down the hallway away from them. The teens stopped, as Rei did as well, and deduced, "Perhaps I triggered a video log of the ship."

After that deduction, the last figure of the holographic figures seemed to slow down, almost as if it were suffering from some kind of wound or such. As the teens caught up to the holographic figure, as they rounded a corner, they saw the being collapse onto its knees, and then fall face first into the ground. Just as a large vertical drop door dropped on the figure's head, and thus ending the hologram, as it faded back into dust particles.

Isaac and Gwen walked up slowly to see what the scene had been about. Isaac pulled out his gun, switching it on, as it hummed to life. Gwen was about to go forward, but Isaac halted her from going further, taking caution over excitement and adrenalin. Once they cautiously walked over, with the others following after, the cousins and the others had before them witness something shocking. There, lying at the closed door was the body of the figure that had collapsed on the hologram display moments ago.

Gwen gasped at this, as she cautioned to her cousin, calmly, "Oh my god. We found them, Isaac."

Ken, looking rather freaked out, finally huffed and puffed, "Them? What do you mean them?"

"She's talking about the Creators," Isaac stated. But then looked at the structure before them, as Rei walked close by to the corpse, as Isaac stated, "I'm guessing this must be a door… and that this guy was obviously decapitated by it. Right before he died of… whatever it was that caused him to collapse."

* * *

 **Back on the Prometheus**

The crew had gotten an eye-view of what they had just witnessed, as Vickers slumped back in her chair, in utter shock, as she whispered, "Son of a bitch. They were right."

Marek turned to look at her, as he scoffed, and looked back at the screen, "You wanted them to be wrong?"

* * *

 **Back in the Temple**

Gwen was currently looking over the body, while Isaac walked to the side of the door. There, he spotted similar glyphs to what Rei was messing with before, "Hey, Rei. Can you come over here?" She walked over to him, as she stood right next to him, as he pointed to the glyphs, "Look familiar?"

She carefully examined them, and nodded, "Indeed. They match the same as the ones before."

"You think they might be able to operate the door?" Isaac asked.

Rei walked past him, and climbed up on a fallen rock piece, giving her a boost to the glyphs. "I'll try."

Finally, as if he couldn't take it anymore, Ken dropped his equipment bag, and huffed it back the way they came in, as he stated, "That's it. I'm outta here."

Gwen spotted this, as she got up, and walked after him, calling out, "Ken! Hey! Where the hell do you think you're going? You've got a job to do to help us!"

Ken stopped in his tracks, and then turned around, looking rather exhausted from the whole ordeal he was going through. He stomped over to Gwen, getting in her face, as he stated, "Look. I'm just an engineer's apprentice. I'm also a geologist in training; I love rocks. It's clear to me that you and your loser cousin don't give a shit about rocks, but what you do seem to care about is gigantic dead and headless bodies. And to be honest with you, I don't really have anything to contribute…" and then shouted hysterically in her face, "… GIGANTIC DEAD AND HEADLESS BODY ARENA!" Gwen was unfazed by the outburst, even as Ken was calm again, as he stated, "I'm going back to the ship, if you don't mint." He looked to the group, and asked, "Anyone want to join me, eh?" Nobody spoke up, as Ken sighed, "Fine then, I'll go myself." He then looked to Gwen, and then to Isaac, as he stated almost mockingly, "Congratulations on meeting the maker your parents seemed to obsess over."

Finally, Gwen spoke up, "Thanks."

And then Ken stormed off, as he mumbled, "And everyone thinks I'm the crazy one."

As soon as he was gone, they went back to work, as if nothing had happened earlier. Gwen knelt down to the body, scanning it with a carbon reader, as Jeff knelt down next to her, as he asked, "So you can tell how old he is or how long he's been dead for?"

Gwen nodded, "Yep." Suddenly, it beeped, as she checked the readings, "According to this, they've been dead for… " but then blinked, as she checked it. "Wait, this is a bit strange."

Isaac looked to her, as he asked, "What?"

"Well, according to the database, this body's been dead for… two to three years," Gwen deduced. "That would mean that Uncle John and Aunt Martha were around that time to meet them."

Isaac looked confused on that, as one of the PUPS were nearby, as he asked, "Then where are they now?"

At that moment, Rei was finishing inputting the code, catching Gwen's attention, as she asked, "Rei, what are you doing?"

"I'm attempting to open the door," Rei answered. "As per Isaac's instructions."

Gwen shot up, as she tried to stop her, "No wait! We don't know what's on the other side…!"

Suddenly, the door shifted open, as it slid down, allowing access to the other room, and allowing the PUP to fly on in there.

"Oops," Rei replied.

The door finally finished, as they all looked inside, to see a gigantic room that was big enough to be a cathedral. The floor of the room was littered with what appeared to be egg-shaped black pods no bigger than a crock pot. In the far back was a giant alter of sorts, holding in place some kind of silver coffin of sorts from afar. On the edges of the ceiling there were murals of sorts; an alien version of the Sisteenth Chapel in comparison. And in the center of the room was a giant bald humanoid head carved of stone and looking rather ominous. Isaac stared at it thinking it was going to come to life.

"Whoa," was all that Isaac could manage to speak up on after looking at the structure before him.

Jeff weakly nodded, "Yeah, whoa is right."

"Look at the head," Gwen replied.

"Yeah, it's huge," Isaac pointed out.

"No, I mean the one by your feet you guys," Gwen corrected.

The two boys blinked at that statement, and looked down. And sure enough, they saw the severed head of the giant before them, as they hopped back a little. Gwen knelt down, as she examined it, "An amazing state of preservation. Even after three years." She pulled out a duffle medical bag, as she began to carefully stuff the head in, "We'll take it with us. Maybe we'll learn what happened here."

Rei examined the head, as she looked around, looking at the head, "Remarkably human. And quite beautiful paintings. It would seem these Creators had evolved or reached a state in their civilization that would be considered paradise, as you put it."

Isaac looked around, but heard her talking, as he agreed, "Yeah, I guess." But then stumbled, as he stepped on something. He looked down on the ground, examining it with his light. There, he spotted a small gray and white orb of sorts with white eight bumps, giving it a rectangular shell of sorts for protection. He picked it up, looking it over, as he asked, "What the heck is this?"

Rei walked in through, as she stepped on the soiled ground, unaware of worms popping out. She knelt down to one of the eggs, shining a light on it, as she noticed a dark green translucent shell around the casing of whatever it was she was looking at. For a moment, the insides shifted, as Rei deduced, "It's alive."

Isaac walked around again, after pocketing, and spotted Jeff walking towards the altar. Once both the boys got there, they noticed the huge silver coffin was way more high tech than it apparently was. Isaac walked up to it, and looked at the glass shielding being yellow… that there was someone inside.

"Hey, Gwen," Isaac called out, getting her attention, as she was walking around with the bagged head. "I think there's someone still alive in here."

Jeff looked at the sides, and saw it to be removable, "Don't have a clue on how to open the box, but the box seems to be on display only. I think we can carry this thing out to the RV out there."

Isaac pulled up Ken's discarded tool duffel bag, as he rummaged through, "Awesome. We've got some portable gravity levelers." He pulled out small puck-sized silver disks, as he threw a few at Jeff, "Stick 'em on the side and let's haul this sucker back."

As they did, the coffin was easily able to hover off the locking dock altar, as the two were easily able to move it down. But as they did, Jeff had to ask, "You don't seem all that disappointed that we haven't found your folks yet."

"Well, it's only the first day; can't expect them to be found so easily yet," Isaac stated, but smiled, "But I'm hoping we find them tomorrow, if we're lucky."

* * *

 **Back on the Prometheus**

Outside it was not looking all that pleasant, as small tornados were beginning to form and stretch down, touching the ground of the planet's surface. Even Chance was noticing the weather changing as well, as he looked at the weather monitor. After seeing it, he radioed Marek, "Boss."

"What you got, Chance?"

"We got an incoming storm front," Chance reported. "Silica and lots and lots of static. This is not good."

On the bridge, Marek was getting a front row seat, as in front of them, a giant dust storm was coming towards the temple. "Yeah, I see it," Marek replied, and then radioed back into the temple to get the kids out in time.

* * *

 **Back in the Temple**

Halfway to the entrance, the kids' radios went on, as Marek was talking to them again, " _Ground Team, this is Marek. I need you all to hustle back._ " They all stopped, as Marek replied again, " _Ground Team, do you copy?_ "

Jeff switched on his radio, as his helmet folded back on, as he replied, "This is Jeff Carter, come in again, captain. Say again."

" _We've got 200 kilometer winds of airborne silica and enough static to fray your suits_ ," Marek replied. " _You might wanna hurry and get back_."

"Copy that," Jeff stated, as he and Isaac, who had his helmet back on, pushed faster now. He looked to Gwen and Rei, as he stated, "You ladies better hoof it!"

"But there's still so much look into," Gwen protested, easily wanting to stay to find her Aunt and Uncle longer.

But they had to move it more, as Vickers radioed, " _I'll be closing the outer doors in fifteen minutes_." She then snidely quirked, " _I sincerely hope you children can make it by then_."

As they made it near the entryway, Isaac huffed, "She's a real piece of work, that Vickers. What a hardass."

"Probably has one too," Jeff stated, as they reached the RV vehicle, and prepped to go.

They slid in the coffin carefully, as both boys entered, and snapped it in place, as the two females hopped in, with the door closing behind them. Jeff made it to the steering wheel, as they revved up and raced back to the Prometheus as fast as they could. As they did, Gwen noticed in the rear the storm was sweeping over, like waves smashing on the shoreline. The storm wsa dangerously kicking up sand and dust, making it undesirable to go into at a moment like that. They were going as fast as they could to reach the Prometheus, as the hatchway was coming in for a close call. The light disappeared as the storm was getting dangerously close to them.

Gwen replied in the back, almost shouting, "Guys! Go faster!"

"Alright, we're cutting it close," Isaac stated.

The hangar door to the Prometheus opened up, as the storm blanketed the area, creating powerful winds and gusts. The vehicle nearly fell off its wheels and axel, as it nearly toppled over. But Jeff wasn't about to give in so easily, as he floored it to the hangar bay, hitting the ramp, as the vehicle flew in the air, and crash-landed on the floor. It flipped and rolled on its side, as it crashed into the wall.

"The RV has made it in," Revel reported.

"Alright, close the doors. Close the doors," Marek ordered.

The hangar bay doors closed as fast as they could, as little to no dust was seeping through the cracks until it closed. Finally, the light was green for O2 to be breathable again. The back doors to the RV popped open, as Rei easily carried out a shaken Gwen, while the boys shakingly got on their own legs again.

Isaac fell on his butt while Jeff leaned on the roof of the toppled RV, as the first groaned, "Ugh! I think I understand why stars do their own stunts in action movies."

Jeff groaned, "Trust me. That hurt for the both of us." He looked over to Rei and Gwen, and asked, "You alright?"

Gwen winched, "A little sore, but I'm alright."

"I'm functioning properly. Thank you for your concern," Rei replied.

Marek was back on the radio, as he asked, "Alright everyone. The optimism is really good to have you all back, but ah, where's Heels?"

They all looked to one another, as they asked, "You mean he didn't come back?"

Marek looked to Chance, "Better find him."

* * *

 **Back at the Temple**

Deep within the pathways, Ken was still looking around, with his helmet on. Apparently, he had gotten lost thorugh the passageways, and was now a rat in a maze. He stopped as he looked at the walls, and groaned, "Dammit, I've been down this way already."

" _Heels, this is the captain_ ," Marek radioed back, getting Ken's attention. " _Listen up. Between the static and the wind speed out there. Well, there ain't no safe way to come and get you out of there_."

"Say what," Ken asked.

" _Now the temperature is dropping rapidly, so you better keep your helmet on and stay warm till the storm passes_."

Ken sighed, groaning with annoyance, as he sighed, "Sure. But ah, can you get a message to Sheepy Shepard and his cousin?"

" _Sure_."

"You reading this right," Ken asked.

" _Yeah, I think I got it_ ," Marek radioed. " _What's the message?_ "

* * *

 **Back on the Prometheus**

 **Bridge**

Ken finally gave the message, but on one part came garbled up due to static, " _Tell them they can %*$# themselves. Copy?_ "

The trio of the crew laughed at that, as Marek replied, "Copy that. Alright, keep your head down and we'll come get you in the morning."

* * *

 **Later On**

 **Medical Lab**

The science crew were working on decontamination both the pod coffin as well as the head that Gwen had brought in with her, Ford, and Rei dressed in Scrub and operating garb, but Isaac and Jeff were walking in, observing the coffin in trying to get it open. As the decontamination was being completed, Vickers strode in, seemingly confident that the mission was a bust. The head was fully scanned, was the box, and its contents, and all was lit green.

"Alright, no contamination present in either samples; they are completely sterile of any infectious agents, domestic or foreign," Ford reported.

Rei pulled the head out of the contamination detector, as the trio were about to go to work. Meanwhile, Vickers spoke up, "So any sign of them? Are they all dead?"

"Who you talking about again," Isaac asked, as he looked at the lock.

"Your parents' Creators," Vickers strainly and impatiently stated. "Are they dead?"

Isaac put his stuff down, as he sighed, looking at the blonde woman, as he stated, "We've only been a day here, and already you're bitching about all…."

"Just answer the question," Vickers interrupted, equally annoyed by this boy.

"Well, like Isaac said: it's only been a day, so we don't know," Gwen replied, as she and the other prepared to examine the exo-skeleton head, as Rei activated the bed scanner over the severed head. "Why do you care?"

"Weyward cared," Vickers replied.

"Miss Tenolds, Ford," Rei spoke up to get their attention. "I believe you should look at the screens."

The two walked over to see the screen, and were stunned to see something was inside the exo-skeleton. "It's a helmet," Gwen was surprised to see. She looked to Rei, and asked, "Can you remove the helmet?"

"I'll try to remove it as gently as I can," Rei replied, as she walked over.

She gently lifted it, as it snapped open, grinding like rock, as she lifted the helmet up and took it to the side. There, lying on the table was the head of a bald and very pale humanoid male, peacefully slumbering, as if he fell asleep before he died. His skin appeared to be covered in black legions of veins and scabs, with hints of metallic shards sticking out. Everyone was a little bit in awe at this, even Vickers, as they saw the new discovery.

But Jeff took notice of the black stuff on its head, as he asked, "What's all that stuff on him?"

Gwen examined it, along with Ford, as they carefully examined the growths and veins on it, as Gwen stated, "I think this is brand new. It's like this being was changing. Maybe still is."

"Changing into what," Vickers demanded in question.

Gwen shrugged, but then asked Rei, "Rei, can you get the electrical stimulus and insert it into the cerebrum? I think we can trick the nervous system to kick starting it; make it think it's still alive."

Isaac sighed, as he leaned on the box, not noticing the codes counting down to something, "Well, that's cruel. Nothing worse than a head without a body. Ugly way to die."

Rei pulled out a device that looked like a large electrical hydraulic needle, and inserted it into the back base of the neck connecting to the skull. She amped it up to 30, as they all awaited for anything to happen. And almost sure enough… it did something. The black cells began to grow out, almost blackening the face, as the face began to twitch. It's eyes began to open, revealing the dark scleras and irises.

Ford replied, feeling a little worried, "Too much. It's a little too much."

"Yeah, bring it down, Rei," Gwen replied.

Rei pulled it out instead, but they all saw the cells weren't dying, and neither was the head at that matter. Silent panic was starting as the head continued to go black and twitch all over. It even started to gasp for air that would never be fed.

"It's not dying," Ford freaked out.

Gwen looked to Rei, as she ordered, "Rei contain it!"

Rei nodded, but Vickers stated, "Contain it? Turn it off."

"It's a freakin' head, Vickers! I don't think there's an off switch," Isaac yelled out.

"Oh God, the smell," Ford whimpered.

The head was immediately pushed into the glass contiainer, as the black ooze began to leak out of its skull. As it gagged and leaked out more, the glass dome closed around it, blowing sterilization fluid within. All seemed silent and that the head was dead again. Unitl they heard screeching sounds, as the fog lifted to reveal what had happened. Suddnely, the head had mutated with eight metallic and black gooed legs, with the lower jaw split open to become mandibles with sharp spikes sticking out as fangs, and the eyes out as stocks. The back of the head had shifted into a metallic material, making the head more techno-organic that organic.

Vickers shouted, "Someone kill it!"

Isaac looked to Jeff, as he noticed he was still armed, and asked, "Is that glass bulletproof?"

"None at all," Jeff replied, getting the meaning, as he pulled out the pistol and aimed for the glass.

As the creature tried to bust out, cracking the glass, Jeff fired like crazy, hitting the head until it exploded into goo. As the dust and goo settled with nothing left, Rei simply replied, "Mortal after all."

CLICK

Everyone jumped as they heard the box open behind the two boys, as Jeff aimed his weapon at it. The lid opened up, as mist poured out of it, as everyone grabbed something to fight, except for Vickers who bailed. Isaac pulled out his pistol and aimed for the box as well, awaiting for something to come out.

Slowly, a figured arose from the box in a sitting position, but then turned to look at eth startled crewmembers. Finally, the figure got up on their feet, and stood up before them, as the light revealed to what… or who it was.

The figure revealed to be a sixteen year old female. She was very beautiful with a slender figure, Isaac's height, possibly, but hard to determine due to her towering over them from standing up on the examination table. She had long fiery auburn red hair that went down to her waist, and straight with bangs, but a longer right bang while the left one was tucked behind her left ear. She had glowing green eyes that stared down up on them but was silent nevertheless. She also had peculiarly bright orange skin that was flawless along with her beautiful figure. She appeared to wear a simple, yet almost revealing, white outfit made of bandages that were horizontally across her chest but made it hard to keep the amazing C-cup breasts stay in place, pelvis, ribcage, and bangs around her upper arms, and her thighs.

If she wasn't an alien, she would truly be a smoking hot babe to the boys.

She looked down to everyone, as her eyes were still aglow, but Jeff pointed his gun at her, ordering, "If you can understand me, then stop before you do something that'll lose a limb!"

The girl continued to stand before them, as the girl's eyes stopped glowing, revealing the irises to be green, and the white of her eyes a light green. She seemingly passed out, as she fell down, but Isaac snapped to it, and lunged forward as he caught her before she crashed into the floor. Jeff holstered the weapon, as Isaac gently cradled the downed orange girl in his arms and lap.

But then Rei began to poke the girls head with her index finger, almost trying get a reaction. But Isaac stopped her, "Rei, will you stop it? She's a girl, not a head."

"She's a freakin' alien," Vickers pointed out. "Am I the only one seeing that?"

Gwen, who disliked this woman even more, groaned, "Yeah, we noticed." But then she looked to Isaac and the girl, as she asked, "Is she alright?"

"She's breathing, which is a good sign. Even better sign is that I don't see any black blemishes we saw on the head," he sighed in relief. He then gently turned her over so that she was lying on her back, revealing her serene and peacefully sleeping face. A small gust of the AC gently blew a strand in her face, making her look rather cute to Isaac.

He blinked, as he slightly blushed at the sight, 'Wow. I never realized until now but… this girl's pretty… beautiful.'

She slowly began to open her eyes, as she looked up, opening her pretty green eyes, as the first thing she saw was Isaac.

Isaac blinked, as he looked to the girl in concern, as he asked, "You okay? Who are…?" But suddenly, she grabbed him by the throat, causing everyone to back off… as she lifted Isaac off his feet, as he gagged out, "… you? Sorry if I offended you in any way…"

"Senno Ecto Gammat!" she seethed with anger in her eyes and voice, as she turned with Isaac being used as a shield, but still looked at Isaac eye-to-eye, as she continued, "Senno Ecto Gammat!"

She then looked to the others, and seethed out a battle cry, as she threw Isaac across the room, crashing into the wall, as he fell flat on his butt, while the small orb banged across the floor an into a darkened corner. The others looked to the girl, as she suddenly was lifted off her feet, while the tail of her hair was glowing, almost like they were lit on fire, as she hissed viciously, "Heska vo."

Then suddenly, she flew forward, smashing through the doors, as she flew light speed ot the left, heading to the hallways.

Jeff then ran after her, as he stated, "Who is this girl? Supergirl?"

Isaac got up off his butt, as he groaned, "Whoever or whatever she is, she's loose, flying around, has super strength, and super pissed." Then the two boys ran after her in an attempt to stop her.

The girls followed suit, while Vickers grabbed a syringe full of what appeared to be a sedative. When the room was absent, the little orb in the corner started to shake, and a blue lens opened up, glowing.

And then it spoke, "Where am I? I must have taken a bad step."

* * *

 **Meanwhile**

The crew were all in a rush as loud screams and banging were vibrating everywhere, even as Marek and his men ran down with weapons. Jeff radioed to Marek that an orange girl was tearing through… an orange girl who could fly and had freakish strength, and a really short fuse. The ship shaking was proof of that, as they also heard screaming. When they reached a corner, they bumped into Isaac and Jeff, as he asked, "That her?"

"Yeah," Jeff confirmed it.

But then Isaac asked, "Any idea where she went?"

"SLOPFORN IVORTMAT!" the girl's screaming angered voice echoed through the place.

Chance then blinked, "Sounds like it came from the hangar."

"If she tears down that door, we won't be just be exfixiating from the nitrogen out there, but with the storm still out…"

"It'll fry the ship," Isaac concluded.

They make their way to the hangar, and got their weapons ready for stun. But before they went in, Revel asked, "So how strong is this girl?"

Suddenly, two members of the crew were thrown into the door between them, bringing them and the door down and all, as they all witnessed it.

Isaac casually said, "Strong. Even with someone of her build."

They made their way in, using the downed vehicles for cover, as they saw the orange-skinned girl roared out, banging at the hangar door, with her burning eyes, "Slopforn ivortmat! Slopforn! Ond gudshik zerrole!"

Isaac, going against his better judgement, slowly started to approach her, despite Jeff and Marek warning him not to, "Shepard. Get back here."

"Get back here," Jeff warned. "She'll throw you like a rag doll again."

But Isaac didn't stop, as he slowly and stealthily approached her, as her banging became slower, like she was losing her fire. She growled as her breathing slowed down, as she stopped banging, taking deep breaths as she hung her head down, her shoulders hunched up. Finally, her eyes reopened, still blazing as strongly as ever, as she started to swing her arms every which way with a fresh yell. She suddenly flipped up, and pounded the floor between her and Isaac hard enough to dent it to make a pothole.

However, she stopped her assault, as the girl looked towards Isaac, with her knees bending inward. She looked to him, almost a little bit pleading, but then noticed the gun in his hand. Her anger appeared once again, as she roared at him, "ZOP! YARK MESNEF!"

She suddenly came up into a leap that carried her towards him; luckily, Isaac ducked as she delivered a steel-wrecking downward swing. He jumped clear in the time of time, and touched down in a skid. But she wouldn't stop attacking as one roundhouse after another forced him to keep bobbing and weaving from her. As the fight continued, Gwen and Rei arrived in as they saw the fight beforehand.

Gwen was freaking out seeing her cousin in danger, as she looked to them, "Why aren't you guys firing?"

"Your cousin decided to play negotiator and now we can't fire without risking hitting him," Marek stated.

Rei observed the girl, as she concluded, "Perhaps he has the right idea with negotiating."

It was Jeff's turn to look confused, as he asked, "What are you talking about?"

"She does seem to be attacking and sounds angry," she stated. "But she seems… scared."

They all looked at the scene, as the orange-skinned girl continued to wreak havoc, while crying out in a battle cry tone. Jeff looked to the android girl, as he asked credulously, "That's scared? I hate to see what she looks like when she's _really_ mad."

Isaac dodged another swing, as he rolled and skidded to a crouch, as the green eyes glowed right at him. She looked at one of the Prometheus's RV units, and hooked her bare left foot under the chassis… and then effortlessly kicked it up several feet so that it rotated to point its nose towards the ground. When it was an inch short of splattering its innards across twenty yards of hangar floor, she booted it towards Isaac, who threw himself flat to avoid being in its way with his face. The RV sailed in a low level lightning fast trajectory down the hangar, and smashed into the side of the hangar.

Isaac went wide eye, as did everyone else, as he turned to look at the girl, "Whoa. You're stronger than you look, I'll say that."

The orange-skinned girl cracked her neck in a brawler-style, as she smirked in a battle-lusting way, as she simply whispered menacingly, "Zota…"

Isaac finally got on his feet again, a bit shaky, as he calmly walked to her, trying not to be as menacing as he seemed to her. "GNarkfa! Rafma Karfma!"

Isaac stopped, as he held his hands up, and tried to reason with her, "Whoa. Hold on. Look, lady, I only speak two languages: English and New York. Now don't get me wrong, I'm all for a little conversation or two, but maybe you could just calm down, and we can talk?"

The girl seemed to hear reason in it, but then shots at her, caused her to flinch and cry out. They didn't seem to pierce her, but they were annoyhing her, as well as tear at her 'outfit'. Her eyes glowed green again, as she sneered at Marek and his men, "GAAAAAAAAH! VAMORFKA!"

She then brought up her fists, pointing them right at the vehicles shielding them as they glowed a bright green flickering to life. They all looked in surprise as she uncorked a machine-gun fusillade that punched into their position, bombarding the vehicles.

"At this rate, she'll tear up the whole ship," Marek cried out.

Isaac saw this happen, and frowned, knowing that this had to stop. He ran forward to her, as his suit suddenly hummed, as the black film started pulsating. It started to swell and pump up, giving Isaac a heavy muscle build. The orange-skinned girl did not see it in time, but had a moment to turn her head, as Isaac charged at her, got behind, and grabbed her in a bear hug lock hold. He planted his feet firmly into the ground, anchoring him, along with grapnel lines shooting from his belt which were used to anchor him when gravity-locking boots wouldn't work. He had literally become an anchor to hold her down.

But she cried out in rage, as she thrashed about, trying to fly away, or even tear Isaac's arms. But the muscle-enhancement to all the SIG suits made Isaac super strong and super durable; a feature used in heavy construction SIGs. And it also made it easy for her to be subdued, even as she was kicking around crying out. At that time, Vickers had arrived in time with a gun loaded with sedative darts, as she saw the scene.

As she thrashed, it became weaker, as did her screams which died down to nearly a weakened whimper. Isaac finally was able to talk to her, as her weakened state made her calmer, "Listen! I know you must be scared, and I know you don't understand a word I'm saying; I don't understand what you're saying. We're not gonna hurt you."

"Maybe he won't," Jeff groaned, still feeling frizzed from what happened.

"Okay, I'm going to let you go, but you have to nod that you won't go crazy again," Isaac bargained to the orange girl. She turned to look at him, as he asked, "You understand what I just said? You agree to the terms?" finally, she nodded, as the lines retracted into the belt, and the muscles shrunk back to Isaac's regular sized self.

Finally, he let go of her, to which she gently turned to face him, as her eyes glowed down, returning to how they were before. Isaac sighed in relief, as did everyone else, as he combed his hair back, "Great. Now maybe we can…"

But he didn't get any farther from his sentence, as she grabbed him to her with one hand around his suit's collar, and pulled him in by the back of his head with her other hand… and kissed him. Long, gently, and full on the lips, causing him to go wide eye with shock at this. Everyone else was a bit shocked by this turn of events; even Gwen whose jaw dropped at the sight of this. Her eyes were closed the whole time, as Isaac's slowly closed in as well, relaxing into it. However, what happened next caught him off guard.

She shoved him in the chest hard enough to drop him on his back. And two: she spoke perfect English, but despite her gentle tone, she possessed the same fire she did before the fight.

"If you wish not to be destroyed, you will tell me where the Creators are!" Her eyes then glowed green again, as her anger boiled again, as her hands glowed as well, and pointed them right at Isaac, as she screamed out, "Where my people are! And where my treacherous sister I…GAAH!"

She faltered a moment, as she turned around, seeing Vickers with a needle in her hand. She powerfully pushed the blonde away, as she scooted on her butt to the others. The girl then turned to face Isaac, angered yet again, as she attempted to step on him.

But her steps seemed to be more sluggish then… and her vision blurring up, as she swaggered a moment. And then she lost consciousness as she fell forward. And just like before, Isaac lunged into action and caught her before she crashed, as he gently set her down in his arms and lap.

Jeff, who had witnessed the scene, sighed, "Déjà vu all over again for those two."

* * *

 **Next Chapter: Finds and Discoveries; How Far Would You Go?**


	6. How Far for Answers

**Explorers of the Universe**

* * *

 **Chapter 5: Finds and Discoveries; How Far for Answers**

* * *

 **Medical Area**

 **Quarantine Room**

Isaac was sitting Indian style on the floor in the quarantine room. He was looking or rather keeping an eye constantly at the sole occupant of the glass-doored room. There, lying on the floor curled up and still wearing the band outfit, was the orange-skinned alien girl that had nearly trashed the whole hangar of the Prometheus. Isaac rested his chin on his left hand, prompting himself up on his knee as he looked at the peacefully sleeping girl in the room.

And his mind wandered back hours ago after the indecent.

* * *

 **Hours Ago**

 _The orange girl was sealed in the quarantine tank, as the crew trained their guns on them. Vickers, unlike everyone else, was as calm as always, but inside she wanted to throttle the idiots who brought in such an uncontrollable creature just to see the ship getting torn apart._

 _"We should shoot her out the airlock, right now," Vickers shot out, and then turned her attention to Isaac and Gwen, as she berated, "Didn't I tell you that if we encountered these Creators, you weren't to contact, touch, or even associate with them?"_

 _"Yeah, but you left out a loophole," Isaac pointed out, earning confused looks on all of their faces. He sighed, as he walked over to the tank, and pointed to the girl, "She's not one of the Creators."_

 _"He's right," Gwen stated as she explained. "From what we saw, these Creators are giants, chalk white skinned, and black-eyed." She then pointed at the downed girl, "She's clearly not one of them."_

 _"Still doesn't make her any more of a threat if we let her loose," Vickers._

 _"So what are you planning to do? Throw her out and hope she explodes like a balloon," Isaac asked, very frustrated that this Vickers woman had no respect for any life._

 _Vickers turned her back to leave, as she simply stated, "It's an idea."_

 _"Now hold on," Marek stated, trying to be the tie-breaker as well as the peace keeper and reasonable voice among them. "We're not a lynching mob; we're a rescue team. And right now, we don't know where the rescue-es are, let alone any clues." He then pointed to the alien occupant, as he stated, "She might be the only key clue we've got."_

 _Vickers turned around, looking unconvinced, as she stated, "A key clue that doesn't speak a word of English? Oh yeah, that'll be helpful to all of us on this."_

 _"Actually, she does speak English," Isaac confessed. They all turned to look at him, almost in question, as Isaac innocently shrugged, "She kind of started to after she, um… well, you know."_

 _The guys sighed, as they looked at him, questioning if the boy was thinking clearly on that, but Rei stated, "She did seem to calm down once that happened. Perhaps she seems to not see Isaac as a threat unlike the rest of us."_

 _They all looked to Isaac, as the boy seemed to now be the center of attention. Isaac looked back to back, until he finally asked, "What?" Then he finally figured it out, as he defensively denied, "Oh no. Please no. No…"_

 _"Why not? If you're the only one that she seems not to get hostile around, you'll be our peace-broker," Marek replied. He then looked to Vickers, as he asked, "If that's alright with you, isn't it?"_

 _Vickers was silently fuming that she wasn't getting what she wanted on this. She was supposed to be in charge, as she sighed, but looked to Isaac, "The minute I hear she wrecks something… we're leaving this god-forsaken planet and rendezvousing with the Ishimura."_

 _She then left, along with the other crew, even with Marek giving him a thumbs up, and walked out. Gwen patted Isaac on his shoulder, as she smirked, "Have fun."_

 _"This is too much," Isaac sighed. "What am I gonna talk to her about?"_

 _Jeff stopped near him, as he asked in a joking manner, "Why she kissed you? Or will she do it again?" And walked away laughing._

 _Isaac groaned, as he grumbled, "Oh sure. Laugh it up, pal." But then looked to the downed girl, as he sighed, "Man, what if she does ask me that?"_

* * *

 **Present Time**

Isaac looked at the downed girl after his thoughts from the past were over, and thought to himself, 'I think the last place she wants to wake up in is in another cell like that cryo-coffin.' He thought about it for a moment, but then it clicked.

* * *

 **Later On**

 **Lounge/Cafeteria**

Moments later, the alien girl was still unconscious, but now she was lying on the pool table, with a blanket draped on her to keep her warm. Isaac was sitting next to the table in case of the event she woke up. The top of his suit was off, with a brown jacket on in place of the SIG pack and armor plating. He leaned on the table, looking at her, while he thought about his actions.

'Yeah, it's better she wakes up not in a cell again. And to someone she recognizes rather than a stranger.' He deeply sighed though, as he remembered back in the hangar. 'Except now she might think I tricked her after Vickers shot her with that tranquilizer.' He shivered a little, feeling someone just stepped on his grave. 'Boy, is she going to be ticked when she wakes up.'

However, he was brought out of his thoughts when he heard her moan and turned his attention back to her. She stirred a little, almost in a cute manner, as she started to wake up. She lifted herself so she was sitting upward as she looked around groggily, but managed to wake up, as she now had a confused look on her face.

Then she spotted Isaac, who nervously waved at her, "Hi. How are you feeling?"

She looked confused at first, unable to remember him… until she remembered as it showed on her face when she made an angry expression. "YOU!" she yelled, as she jumped in his direction, grabbing him by his shirt collar as she pushed him back to the wall, and held him up against it, as her eyes glowed bright green in anger, "I will not fall for your tricks again!" Her hand then glowed green again, as it was forming up a bolt or two, as she held up her hand menacingly in a threatening manner, "Now tell me where the Creators are!"

Isaac had a nervous look on his face as he tried to explain, holding his hands up in defense, "Easy, easy. I'm sorry about what happened earlier. But it wasn't me; it wasn't right for Vickers to use a tranquilizer shot like that."

The alien girl had a confused look on her face, as she asked, "Tranquilizer?"

"It's a shot that puts people to sleep…" Isaac replied, but the alien girl's anger rose, as she held him higher, causing his feet to dangle, as he garbled out, "Argh!"

At that answer, the alien girl's eyes glowed even brighter, which Isaac could guess that meant she was now even angrier. She seethed out, as her hands were glowing for another energy bolt, "Then you were planning to put me back in the capsule to experiment on me! Like your Creator companions have done to me for six stellar years of my life, since I was of ten!"

"No! We found the silver chamber you were in while looking for the Creators. We had no idea you were inside of it," Isaac explained while avoiding the risk of angering her further. The girl on the other hand continued to glare at him with her glowing green eyes.

"I'm sorry if I've offended you in anyway," Isaac asked, hoping that she wouldn't attack. "I was just trying to be nice."

The girl raised an eyebrow in confusion, as her eyes glowed still, "Nice? What is this 'nice' you speak of?"

"Y'know? Polite manners, being courteous, showing signs of being trustworthy and courtesy etiquette," Isaac did his best to explain. "Don't you have anything on your world that's like that?"

She frowned, as she stated, "We do not have this word on my homeworld of Zamaran. The closest we have is "rutha". It means 'Weak'." her free hand started to glow showing she was getting ready to attack again.

"Well for certain others on this ship like myself, nice means being nice to others," Isaac saw that this wasn't going well, so he tried a different approach. "I understand, you're angry about before, and with however you ended up in that chamber." He used his free hands to hold the hand she was using to hold him up and showed her a calm expression on his face. "I promise you, I mean you no harm, and never meant for things to end that way. I also promise that you that none of my friends and I won't put you in back in the chamber against you will."

She kept looking at him with glowing eyes and saw no hint of him lying in his eyes as she looked at his hands holding hers. For all the time, he hadn't tried to force it off with the strength he used before. Her angry expression changed to a calm one as her eyes stopped glowing as she gently put him down.

Isaac straightened himself up as he caught his breath, "Thank you."

The Alien Girl looked at him with a neutral look, until she finally asked, "You are looking for the Creators? Why?"

Isaac imply replied, "I'm hoping that once we find them, we find my parents."

The alien girl looked surprised, as she asked, "Your parents were taken by the Creators as I was?"

Isaac shook his head, "No, they went looking for them." The alien girl seemed confused, until Isaac explained, "They found a cave painting depicting an illustration of a giant pointing to the stars, and compared them to other carvings and art they found all over our world, all depicting the same thing. Afterwards, they found that it was a map that would lead them here. My parents made it their goal as to learn of the Creators and why they made us."

The alien girl frowned at him, as she stated, "It is a foolish thing to seek out the Creators. If the Creators are aware of you here, then the fault of being captured and experimented on is your parents! I think it would have been better being in stasis just to await another torture of experimentations, but you insist upon the 'being nice'!"

Isaac seemed to take offense on it, as he pointed out, "Foolish!? You _toss_ me around, you _nearly wrecked_ the ship almost killing all of us, and then you do the craziest thing of all by getting me confused when you _kissed_ me! I'm trying to find the only family I have left, and you think that's foolish compared to what you nearly did by killing us all from the nitrogen-filled atmosphere outside?!"

But the anger between them was halted, as the alien girl was a bit on the clueless side. "Kiss? What is 'kiss'," the orange-skinned girl innocently asked, tilting her head to the side in confusion.

Getting a little nervous on the subject now, Isaac tried to clarify it, "It's basically what you did with me back in the hangar bay." She still seemed confused on that, as Isaac sighed, "Mouth-to-Mouth. Lips to lips sort of deal."

It was then the girl understood, as she sat up right, and smiled nonchalantly, as she explained, "Oh! That was merely the transferal of linguistic knowledge." Now it was Isaac's turn to look confused, but the girl simply replied, "It is how my people, the Zamaranians, learn to translate. The people of my planet are able to learn and speak any language instantaneously through lip contact."

Isaac blinked at that, as he finally pieced it together, as he asked, "So when you kissed me, you learned Earthling?" The girl nodded, but the Isaac became confused, as he asked, "But wait. How can a species learn how to speak another language by kissing them on the lips?"

The orange-skinned alien girl merely shrugged, as she replied, "My people are uncertain as to how it is possible either. But we just know that we can do it."

"Sorry, I'm just trying to find some internal logic to this," Isaac confessed, still confused.

The orange-haired girl innocently shrugged, "There is no external logic to it at all. I am Zamaranian, and you are Earthling. There are similarities from which I can see we share, but there are differences. That will always be shown."

Isaac seemed unsure of that but nodded. "I see. That's pretty handy." He has somewhat of a disappointed look on his face as his eyes look to the side which leaves the girl confused. 'Damn it. Why am I disappointed by that? We just met for crying out loud.' He then wonders something. He looks back towards the girl who has moved closer to him.

"Are you feeling all right? Are you perplexed by my answer?" The girl asks without noticing that Isaac was caught off guard at how close she had gotten along with what she was still wearing leaving him a little embarrassed.

"Eh, I uh…" Than a thought comes to him making him wonder. "Wait. Does that mean you gain more than just the language I speak? Like my skills, my memories, and thoughts?"

The orange haired girl shook her head to that answer. "No, only how to speak the language of others."

"Can you write in them," Isaac asked.

She nodded, "Yes, the alphabet of that language also becomes part of my knowledge."

"So then you'd be able to understand what I write down then," Isaac stated, as he grabbed a ketchup bottle, as he leaned on one of the tables. The alien girl looked over his shoulder, as she witnessed him writing his name. He pulled away, and asked, "Can you read that?"

She nodded, "Of course. It reads 'Isaac Shepard'." But then she looked to him, and asked, "But what is an Isaac Shepard?"

Isaac chuckled, as he pointed to himself, "That's my full name. But everyone calls me by my first name: Isaac."

The alien girl smiled at that, as she put her hands together, as she stated, "Oh. Then in that case…" she gently took the ketchup bottle, and wrote next to him her name: Kori And'rz.

Isaac read it aloud to make sure he read it right, "Kori And'rz, eh?" He looked to her and asked, "I'm guessing your first name is Kori, right?"

She nodded, as she smiled, "I believe in your tongue, my name translates as Starfire. It was what my mother had given me when she once told me she named me as my hair glowed like stars."

Isaac smiled at that, as he looked at her hair, commenting, "Well, she was right; your hair does glow like stars."

Kori looked a bit startled by that, and looked away, blushing, as she commented, "I thank you… Isaac."

Isaac smiled at that, but then realizing things were getting a bit too close, he cleared his throat, and asked, "Um… so tell me: how did you end up as a guest aboard the Creators' and ended up here?"

Kori's smile faded, as she gently sat down, looking depressed, as she explained, "I was not a 'guest'. I was 'prize and experiment'. As was my sister, Komi. We were both taken and experimented on the limits of the energies that we store in our bodies due to absorbing sunlight and radiation, which we use to enable us to fly. They had discovered a way to utilize it to enable us to gather it and expel it as a form of defense. They believed it could be used for their future purposes here. As for my sister… I had learned she had escaped, to which caused a disturbing epidemic that wiped out all the scientists."

Isaac was quiet for a moment, as he innocently asked, "And what they did to you out there… and here…?"

She looked to him in depression, as she replied, "Not nice."

Suddenly, a loud and guttural rumble echoed throughout the room, causing Isaac to look around in confusion. The noise had no source to it, and Isaac was just confused as ever on where it came from. But then he looked to Kori… who was blushing and looked embarrassed by the sound, as she gently rubbed her tummy.

The earthling boy sat down, and blinked, asking her, "Is that your stomach?"

Kori nodded, "Yes. It has been quite a long while since I had any sustenance." She gently rubbed it looking down, "My stomachs are empty at this point."

Isaac smirked, as he stood up, "Well, I think we might have something in the food bi…" but then stopped, as he asked, "Wait. Stomachs?" Kori innocently nodded to that, but Isaac asked, "How many do you have?"

Kori thought about it for a moment, counting her fingers while looking up at the ceiling, and finally answered, looking at Isaac, "Six stomachs."

Isaac stared at her blankly, as he finally managed to speak out, "That's… not possible."

That statement made Kori frown, as she asked dejected, "Are you stating that I am lying about my biology?!"

Realizing he offended her, while she puffed her cheeks in anger (which made her cute), Isaac cleared it up, "No, no! that's not what I meant!" he finally calmed down, as he stated, "It's just that on our world of Earth, we have a creature called a Cow; they've got four stomachs and are as big as vehicles there." He then pointed to Kori, as he stated, "I'm just saying you're too thin and small to have that many stomachs."

That compliment made Kori looked at him in surprise, as she blushed for some unknown reason. Realizing that he was dangerously flirting with an alien girl, albeit a very beautiful one, Isaac turned around, as he hid his own blushing, "I'm um… gonna go check the kitchen. Hopefully something must still be fresh on the Prometheus's kitchen and cold storage." And then quickly made chase for the kitchen, leaving Kori to herself.

Her shocked face subsided into a small warm smile, as she commented, "The people on this ship are strange indeed." And looked back at Isaac's retreating form, as she smiled, "But they are very friendly, kind, and…" blushed again, "… very nice."

Unknown to her, the same orb that Isaac had brought aboard the ship was hovering at the doorway, looking at Kori without her noticing. Its glowing blue lens blinked, as it simply said, "Fascinating." And then flew off to wherever else.

* * *

 **Elsewhere**

 **Unknown Location**

In a secret chamber in the Prometheus ship, illuminated by a dark yellow light emanating from a hyper sleep chamber, Rei was standing above the chamber using the same specs that she used to view Isaac's memories aboard the Falcon on the trip to Aegis 7.

"No sir, I'll have it taken care of," Rei said, but she was alone in the chamber room. "Yes sir, understood. I apologize." Rei continued speaking into the helmet as if she was speaking to who or whatever was inside the hypersleep chamber. "Fortunately, the expedition is still in the early stages. We hope to discover more tomorrow as soon as the storm subsides." Rei was silent for a minute as if she was being spoken back to. "I understand sir. It will be done." Rei finished as she pushed a button that dimmed the yellow light from the chamber as she removed the specs with a neutral expression and left the room.

As Rei walks down the hallway, she turns the corner to find Vickers waiting on the side there with her cold stare.

"Miss Vickers, I was just on my way to speak with you," Rei says as Vickers moves in Rei's way to prevent her from leaving.

Still maintaining her cold glare as she asks her, "What did he say Rei?"

"He gave instructions for our guest, but I don't think he'd want me to tell you the first part," Rei responds with as she tries to leave.

But was blocked by Vickers who continued as she asked again, "Aside from our...guest," her tone showed distrust in the alien girl from the coffin, "… what did he say?"

Rei maintained her cool though, "I'm sorry the first-" Vickers had enough as she grabbed Rei by the neck and forced her against the wall, despite the difference in strength between the two, "part is confidential."

Vickers face showed anger as she threatened Rei, "Listen to me, you walking you piece of junk, I will find the cord that makes you function, and I will cut it out to the point of beyond repair. What did he tell you?"

It was clear that Vickers thought very little about Rei to the point of being fine with killing her and hated being kept in the dark by something she saw as inhuman.

Rei continue to be calm as she finally responded to the threat. "What he told me was: Try harder." Vickers looked displeased by the answer as Rei continued. "As for our new guest, she is to be placed on the exploration team, and no harm is to befall her from any of the crew members."

Vickers face became angrier, "We can't trust that freak. For all we know, she was placed there as a trap. Besides, you saw the damage she did to the ship." She tightens her grip on Rei as she growls, "She is too dangerous to trust."

Rei on the other hand kept her cool, "Orders are orders, Miss Vickers. Would you like a cup of tea before I start on registering her SIG suit?"

Vickers moved her hand up to Rei's face as if she wanted to tear it off and shut her down, but reluctantly stopped as she merely shoved Rei aside, and went to leave. "That monster's involvement will only lead to our mission failing," Vickers said as she left Rei behind to pick herself up.

Rei then walked off elsewhere, preparing for whatever she was up to next.

* * *

 **Meanwhile**

 **Lab**

Gwen was doing her best to be hard at work with what she was looking for. So far, she was going through the DNA she collected from the Creator as well as Kori's DNA when she was out cold. Currently, she was putting them through the gene cleanser to rid of any impurities in the hopes of finding something. At the moment, she was wondering while her palm screen was going through it, the condition of her cousin being alone with that alien girl they had just found. Isaac seemed to be okay with looking over her… though most of the time, her cousin did stupid decision-making.

But then she sighed, as she had a soft look on her face, remembering the appearance of the girl, "Well… she was pretty. Guess that was the reason why he wanted to…"

But then stopped as her screen pinged, and looked at it. Her face went from soft to shocked, as she realized what she had found. The scanning had turned up the results… and showed that their DNA, along with the alien girl's, and the Creators… matched. Although the base-pairs were of different numbers; Humans-4, Creators-12, and the girl's-6.

Gwen was shocked to say the least, as she voiced out the obviousness to all the answers to the questions that plagued her when she grew obsessed with her aunt and uncle's research, "Oh my god. It's us. It's everything." But the real question was still left, "What killed them?"

* * *

 **Later On**

 **Kitchen**

 **Lounge/Cafeteria**

On one of the tables, a mess of empty plates, all past their expiration dates, were empty and piled up. Isaac was sitting at one table, eating what appeared to be jello cubes, while he looked in awe at his friend's… dinner. Kori was consuming the entire rotten food as well as the spoiled meals; she was practically cleaning up the Prometheus's spoiled food rations. At first, when he brought them over for her to witness, he thought they would walk over to the Falcon for a meal. But apparently, Kori was devouring it without even gagging or getting sick. Though that couldn't be said much by Isaac, as he nearly barfed the first time he saw it. Though now it was just in awe and fascination that she could consume it all. He figured it must have been due to having so many stomachs.

Isaac blinked, as he just verbally stated his wowness at all this. "Wow. I have to admit, Kori, your digestive system's amazing. You practically ate six meals big enough to feed a family… six times."

Kori was currently sipping a yellow drink of sorts, as she smiled and replied, "I thank you. But I also must thank you for these tangy yellow beverages; they are most delicious." And then sipped again.

However, this time, Isaac's amazed face turned to flabbergasted, as he stated, "Uh, Kori… that's mustard."

Indeed it was mustard, as she pulled away from drinking it, and smiled, rubbing the bottle to her cheek, "Is there more?"

At that moment, Rei walked in, as she seemed to seem befuddled on what had happened to her, as if she was suffering a migraine. Isaac was the first to see her, as he beckoned her over, "Rei. Over here."

She stopped to turn to them, and walk over, as she stood at attention like a waitress, and asked, "May I help in any way?"

Isaac gestured a seat, as he invited her to sit, "Nah, but if you'd like, you can sit. You look like you could use some company." But then he stopped, as he looked to her and Kori, and made introductions, "Oh, first, let me make introductions…" and then gestured to one another, "Rei, this is Kori And'rz. Kori, this is Rei 8."

"It is a pleasure to make acquaintance with Isaac's crew members and friends," Kori said, and then held up a tray that still had food on it… with moldy blue stuff growing in it, as she smiled to her, "This blue-furry food is quite delectable. Would you like some?"

Rei rose her hand up, as she politely declined, "I'll have to refuse. It would be wasted on me."

Kori blinked a moment, as she asked, confused, "Why would you say that?"

"It's because she's a robot," Isaac explained politely. "She can eat regular food as fuel, but she can't really taste it."

"Though in this case, it's a blessing," Rei politely stated, as she carefully looked at the food.

Kori blinked at the realization, as she got up, and circled Rei, equally impressed by her, "She is an artificial lifeform?" and then stopped back at her seat, as she smiled, "You seem so real."

"I am real," Rei replied, but nodded, as she took a seat, "But I do accept the compliment; my builders would have been praised on their craftsmanship." She then looked over to Isaac, as she asked, "You seem rather pleased. Aren't you disappointed?"

"Well, it is only the first day," Isaac stated. "We haven't found my parents or the crew yet, or the Creators. Any living ones." He then blinked, as he asked, "Do you think we wasted our time coming here."

Rei innocently shrugged, as she asked, "Your question would have to depend on what you were trying to find. Or what your parents seemed to seek and find out to achieve."

"What they were trying to achieve was to meet the makers, so to speak," Isaac innocently stated, as he took a sip from a bottle of diet coke. "They wanted to find answers: why they left, what reason did they create humanity. Maybe even the biggest question they hope to answer: why make us in the first place?"

Kori seemed to be taking the conversation in as the two conversed, while Rei replied, "Why do you think your people made me?"

Isaac was in a corner on that, as he shrugged, "Well… Vickers would probably say you were made because we could. I think they did it just to see if it were possible. But to be honest, I really don't know."

Rei shook on that, as she looked away, staring at her hands, "Can you imagine how disappointing it would be for you to hear the same thing from your creator?"

Kori didn't know what was going on, but gently placed a hand on her shoulder, as she asked, "Can you… become disappointed?"

Rei looked to the alien girl, as she simply replied, "No. it is a rather mixed blessing, but I appreciate your concern." She then looked to Isaac, and simply asked, "May I ask something?" Isaac nodded to let her ask, and then she spoke her question, "How far would you be willing to go to find your parents, as well as all the answer they came out here to find out? What would you be willing to do?"

Isaac thought about it for a moment, and then finally shrugged, as he rpelied, "Well, if I had to guess, I'd say… anything and everything. But only as long as you don't forget your reasons or what's really important."

The three were silent when he finished, as he looked away, feeling rather awkward at that moment, until Rei spoke up, "Out of all the philosophical writings I've read on the way to reach here… yours makes more sense than all the rest. Possibly because it's not heartless."

Both Isaac and Kori turned to look at her, as she left, as Kori commented, "I have not known her as long as you have, but she… seems a bit… strange."

"Yeah," Isaac stated.

As she left, Rei allowed a small smile to come up onto her face, indicating she took it to heart.

* * *

 **Later On**

 **Quarters Hallway**

Isaac was finishing up a drink and heading back to his room, going to get ready for the night. But apparently, the night wasn't going to be easy for the poor boy, as Gwen ran up to Isaac when she spotted him, "Isaac! Man, am I glad I found you; you won't believe what we found in the lab."

"Cool, I'm staying over in Fifield's quarters for the night," Isaac replied, as they reached the quarters in conversation, and opened the door.

But Gwen asked, "So where's the alien girl?"

"Kori?" Isaac questioned. "She's in the room right now."

Gwen smirked, "So you two are already on the first name basis, eh? Didn't know orange-skinned girls were your type."

"Cute," Isaac grumbled, as the doors closed behind them.

Gwen looked around, as she asked, "So, where is she?"

Isaac shrugged as he answered, "Well, after I left the room to get something to drink, she said she wanted to clean up. So basically, she's in the shower, washing up…", but then he saw Gwen's face staring out past Isaac; it was sort of a brain-dead stare as Gwen's jaw was dropped and she was in a starry state of surprise. Isaac raised an eyebrow as he questioned his cousin's behavior.

It was then that Gwen simply replied as she pointed behind Isaac, and answered in a monotone voice, "Not anymore."

Isaac raised an eyebrow at that as he turned around, and gasped as he saw Kori, wet her hair partially dried off and was wearing nothing as her orange slender luscious figure was dripping a little, with only her hair to cover her amazing breasts. She had heard the door open and heard Isaac and someone talking with him. Eager to see who it was, she got out of the shower, and walked out to see who it was. And much to her surprise it was the red-headed girl that was among the others, as well as Isaac.

At this point in time, all the cousins could do was staring in utter shock and surprise at this turn of events. Here they were, talking about helping an alien girl out, without even thinking about having that said girl in their presence. And now, all of a sudden, that very girl was standing right in front of them, wet, naked, and smiling at them innocently. For Gwen, she was mentally freaking out at seeing such a woman. Isaac, on the other hand, slightly blushed at the awkwardness of the scene, and was completely taken by surprise by this.

Regaining his brain and common sense, Isaac introduced the two to each other, "Uh, Gwen…this is Kori And'rz." And then he pointed to Gwen, "And Kori…this is Gwen Tenalds… my cousin."

Kori remembered the girl as she smiled at her, completely unaware of the scene she was making. Suddenly, Kori rushed over to her, and hugged her, "Oh, it is very nice to make of your acquaintance, Gwen Tenalds, cousin of Isaac." Gwen was blushing madly at having a naked girl with a body like hers getting this close, and Isaac was trying not to get a nosebleed from this, as Kori pulled away, smiling, "It is truly wondrous and delightful to meet you."

Fearing that Isaac's pheromones would get the better of him, she stopped him in time pulling back, "Great, great. But um… you should really wear something, like maybe a towel to dry off."

Kori blinked in confusion, "But I do not need a towel. The lights as well as the ship's air conditioning system will dry my skin. It would only be my hair in need of such to dry off." She innocently looked to Isaac, whose face was reddening up like a tomato, "Isaac, are you alright?"

He finally snapped out of it, as he asked, "Eh, wha…?"

She seemed worried of the reddening of his face, as Kori walked up to him, unaware that she was pressing up to him, making him go redder. "Um, Kori? You um…" Isaac stuttered, trying to tell her to get dressed.

She didn't notice his awkwardness, as she got closer to his face, "Allow me to see your eyes; I just wish to know if you're suffering physically from an illness."

Finally, Gwen snapped out of it, and walked up to Kori, gently pushing her away from Isaac by the shoulders, "Okay, come on, Kori."

But Kori protested, as she stated, "But I fear that your cousin is ill. His skin is turning unnaturally red like a Tetramond."

"Trust me, it's nothing serious," Gwen stated, as they went into the bathroom. "Let's just find you something to wear until we can get you a SIG suit and some clothing of your own."

And with that, the door closed to the bathroom, leaving Isaac alone with his thoughts.

He sat down on the bed, and crashed back first into it, looking up at the ceiling, until he finally uttered, "As if the kiss wasn't bad enough."

* * *

 **Meanwhile**

 **The Temple**

Meanwhile, back in the alien temple, Ken was wandering around aimlessly trying to figure out at least some clue as to where the heck he was. But as he rounded the corner, he wished he had just stayed with the group. Before him was a pile of corpses piled together, all Creators like the one they had found earlier on. Only this looked like a scene from the holocaust of WWII. Quite frankly, the place was creeping him out even more.

He stopped, as he huffed in his helmet, leaning to the side to make sense out of all of this, "What the heck happened here?"

Suddenly, his comm on his left wrist pinged, as he lifted it up, "What the…?"

The device pinged, as he opened a map on it, showcasing the entire ship of what had been mapped so far. The temple's structure appeared to be a giant horseshoe-sized and shaped building of sorts. But at the moment, his attention was drawn to the pinging, as he saw the red dot just hovering at the end of the horseshoe's left end.

"It wouldn't ping like that unless…" Ken stated to himself, as it came to realization, "… unless it was reading a life form."

He looked at the pile of dead alien bodies, as he gulped, "Oh man. As if seeing this mess wasn't terrifying enough, I had to get a freakin' ping." He then radioed back to the Prometheus for instructions, but only got static. After a few seconds, he groaned, shutting off comms, "Great. As if getting lost wasn't bad enough, the storm's causing interference with the radio."

He looked back at his map, and noticed that the life form wasn't moving… but rather vanished, as he arched an eyebrow, "What the… it's gone?" Finally, he shrugged, "Maybe it was a glitch; nothing's been going right for me ever since I got here." He then looked down at the hallway, as he noticed the ping came down that way, and sighed, "Yeah, I'm not going down that way."

He then turend around and headed back to the chamber he had left Isaac and company after he couldn't take it anymore, and groaned, "Screw it. I'll wait for them there."

* * *

 **Back on the Prometheus**

 **Isaac's Temp Quarters**

After an awkward time, Isaac was dressed down to his under armor suit, which was a sleeveless black wetsuit-like suit, with orange brown lines going down his pecks, and thighs, and an orange brown watch on his wrist. He was currently lying on the bed, waiting for Kori to get dressed and dry off her hair. A while ago, Gwen had shown him the DNA samples, showing that their kind and Kori's were linked to the Creators. But from what Kori had told him, the Creators experimented on her cruelly, as he tried to make sense of all this.

'It's hard to piece together what these guys are like,' Isaac stated to himself. 'Are these guys benign and benevolent… or are they like the Aztec Gods: Cruel and unforgiving with no remorse whatsoever?'

At that moment, the door to the bathroom opened, as Kori walked out. Isaac sat up, but then was staring right at her at what she was wearing. She was dressed in an oversized pink and red trimmed T-shirt that hugged at her body, leaving little to no imagination.

Kori let out a sigh as she smiled and stated, "Thank you so much, Isaac. The shower was simply wonderful."

Isaac was staring at Kori once more as she was finishing drying her hair. Her hair was a little damp and it just seemed really weird that he was staring at her as she was drying it. It was then that Kori caught him just staring, and asked in concern, "Isaac? Is something wrong?"

Isaac shook his head as he shot up on his feet, and was back in thought, "Oh, um, nothing. Nothing at all." He looked away, gulping, 'Darn it. Why the heck does she have to be so super sexy like this? It's enough to drive me nuts and take her right there.'

Isaac turned back, as Kori and he were now five feet from each other, and gestured to the bed, "Here, you can take the bed if you like."

Kori walked over to the bed and sat down, but stopped as she felt the bed. She bounced on it, up and down, almost amazed to be on a bed, as she giggled, "Hmhmhmhm. It has been so long since I slept in a real bed. I cannot remember the last time I slept on something so soft and bouncy." But she stopped as she looked at to what he was doing and asked, "Um, Isaac? Is there not another bed for you to use?"

He shook his head as he said, "Nah, this room has only one bed.", but he waved his hands as he smiled at her, "But I can sleep on the floor; it's alright."

But Kori shook her head as he leaned over, "I object! That is unacceptable!"

But Isaac just lightly shook his head, "I don't mind; it's good for my back anyway."

It was then that Kori thought about it, and decided it would work for both of them. She then stated her idea, "If that's so, then I propose a compromise." Isaac raised his eyebrow as he listened to her compromise, "Instead…we could share it. I do not mind at all."

Of course, Isaac was a little shocked and blushing at this as he nearly stuttered, "Aah…I'm telling you I don't mind at all, so go and get some sleep!"

Kori innocently asked, "But why not? You would not have to give up the bed, and we could keep each other warm in the covers."

Isaac looked away, as he tried to hide his disgruntled blushing face, and simply stated, "Look, Kori. On my planet, it's okay to do that stuff with family members, but it's completely un-okay to do that when it's total strangers."

Kori thought about it, and concluded, "So it is bad when people who do not know each other sleep together, but it is okay that those who know each other do."

Isaac thought about it, as he shrugged, "I suppose so."

Then suddenly, Kori leaned in towards Isaac as she stated, "So then, we could start knowing more about each other right now."

Isaac slightly blushed as he asked, "Eh, what?"

"I do not wish for you to get cold tonight, so if we know more of each other, you can sleep with me tonight," Kori concluded just looked at him innocently as she stated, "Please?"

Now he was really getting flustered, especially the position she was in. Leaning at him on the bed, he had a shot of her cleavage, making him blush even more, as he just stuttered out a frantic cry, "Come on, now! Just get to bed already!"

After a while, Isaac was just lying on top of the covers, while Kori, who looked at him confused, was under the covers, "Are you certain this is best for you?"

Isaac nodded, "I'll be fine. You should get some rest. It's gonna be big tomorrow." And then he turned his back to her, trying to go to sleep.

Kori did the same, but still had her confused face, as she thought, 'Earthling boys are rather… unusual.'

* * *

 **Later that Night**

Isaac slept soundly on his side of the bed, but in truth, he was a bit anxious as to what they would find at the temple tomorrow. From what Kori had told him, these Creators were not as benign as his parents believed them to be. They were willing to experiment on others just to further research. And what made things even more confusing as to what Gwen had shown him earlier. They didn't just create both the human race and the Zamaranians, they all came from the DNA of the Creators themselves. This was all too much to take in or to ponder. He needed something to get his mind off the subject, or at the very least, go to sleep in.

He tossed and turned in his sleep for a while, until he settled down. He finally fell asleep for a little while, but then he stirred a while, but felt a little hard to move around. His eyes squinted as he asked himself as he stirred awake, "What the…? Why is it…?" Isaac opened his eyes to see what it was that prevented him to move around…and paled, seeing Kori had scooted out of the covers… and was now holding him.

He paled at this realization, 'Wha…Why is Kori…!?' he tried to wrench himself free of her, but to no avail due to her strength. He cursed under his breath, 'Great! I can't get loose. Sheesh, why did she have to be so strong?' He stopped struggling after he heard a small moan come from her. It was then that he stopped and got a good look at her. He blushed as he looked at her peaceful face, 'Wow! She's too beautiful…'

He went wide eyed as he just realized what he had just said, 'What did I just say? Never mind, I've gotta get out of this before she wakes up to the wrong conclusion.'

He tried as hard as he could to squeeze himself out of Kori's grip, but to no avail. He cursed himself for getting caught in something this stupid. But he then realized the more he struggled, the closer and tighter Kori's hold on him became. But then he paled as he felt something else; it was being pushed on him, as he looked down. The button shirt she was wearing was becoming undone by her breasts, which the cleavage was dangerously pressing into him, as Isaac blushed. And even more, coming from down below, he felt her left leg gently stroking against his. He gritted his teeth as soon as he realized what it was, 'Oh great, now it's her leg too along with her boobs. It's brushing up to mine.'

She began snuggling up to him now, causing much more problems as he groaned, 'Oh man, please let this night be over soon.'

* * *

 **Next Chapter: Fear Transforms; Unexpected Bundle of Horror**


	7. Fear Transforms pt1

**Explorers of the Universe**

* * *

 **Chapter 6: Fear Transforms; Unexpected Bundle of Horror pt.1**

* * *

 **Elsewhere that Night**

 **Shepard Quarters**

The quarters that was the private quarters of John and Martha Shepard was currently being used by Gwen. She was out of her suit, wearing nothing but a white robe, loosely fitting her, but kept her decently covered. She was sitting Indian style, looking at what was the footage from the temple that displayed the holographic scene that was shown to them back on the ship. While she was looking over it, she was recording a log of what she and the others had found, "Based on the behavior of the subject in these holographic recordings, we're still trying to figure out what caused the dead tissue of the head to mutate. Whatever it is, it seems to only affect dead tissue, but when inserted in living, the mutation seems to accelerate. After looking over the findings, one can't help but wonder if there was an outbreak here. And if there is... what caused it and was it still around when the crew of the Prometheus arrived?"

At the moment she spoke up, the door opened, as who would have appeared… but Jeff Carter. His boots and upper body armor removed, he was merely in black pants and black T-shirt part of his space suit, as he groggily walked in. seeing him, and acting rather unfazed by it, Gwen sighed in annoyance, "Jeff, why aren't you cleaned up?"

"I'm cleaned up; I even cleaned up the under armor," Jeff groaned, as he plopped back first on the edge of the bed. He looked up at her, as he sighed, but then blinked with a surprised look on his face.

Gwen noticed this, as she blinked, "What?"

Jeff merely shrugged, as he pointed out, "Nuthin'. I just didn't know you didn't wear underwear when you go to bed. You're even shaved down there." That caused Gwen to blush uncontrollably, as she kicked him off the bed by his shoulders, as she curled up, blushing madly. He managed to crawl back on the edge of the bed, as he groaned, rubbing his sore spot, "Yeesh. I was only joking; your legs were crossing, so I didn't see a thing."

Gwen huffed, as she calmed a bit, allowing herself to relax, "You can be intolerable sometimes."

Jeff chuckled at that, as he climbed back up to the bed, "And that's why you love me."

Gwen smirked at that, as she scooted over to him, thinking sarcastically, "Do I know that?" She then smiled, as she pushed him down, and got on top of him, smirking, "Yes. Yes, I do."

Gwen leaned down, as she was about to start kissing him, but she stopped, as he seemed a bit troubled, as she stopped, and she asked, "Hey, I mean it; I do love you. We've been going out for a year now, and… well, I know we promised we wouldn't go that far due to me being sixteen and you being eighteen, and that I…"

He stopped her, as he interrupted, "No, it's not that. I meant how are you doing okay?"

Gwen was a bit surprised by that, as she replied, "Well, yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well you and your cousin traveled half the galaxy to find you aunt and uncle," Jeff stated the facts plainly. "And so far, all we've found are the relics they came looking for."

"I'm not assuming they are dead until I find proof of it," Gwen stated. But then smiled, as she pulled out the two data files, as she smiled showing them to Jeff, "But speaking of proof, check these out. I ran a blood test on the Creator sample, as well as Kori's. I even compared it to ours, and you won't believe this: Kori's DNA matches ours due to a difference in base pairs in the DNA."

"Wow," Jeff stated. "But for those of us who can't speak Science or Genetics, can you…?"

Gwen sighed, as she explained in layman's terms, "Humans have 4 based pairs, as does all the DNA of all life on Earth. Kori's DNA shows she has 6 base pairs. The Creator's sample has 12. The pairs only originate from the planet of origin, but there are similarities that match almost perfectly."

Jeff took a moment, until it clicked, as he asked to be sure, "You're saying that they're all one in the same?"

Gwen sighed with a smile, as she nodded, "Yes! We originate from them; the Creators' DNA predates ours." But then she noticed he had a half frown on him, as she asked, "Okay. What?"

"You make it sound like there's no God," Jeff stated. "I mean, your aunt and uncle theorized we were created by these guys… so who made them?" Gwen seemed to turn away, as she seemed upset by that notion, as Jeff guessed right, "So you don't believe God made them, and made us?"

Gwen sighed, as her happy face turned into one of someone holding a long grudge, as she stated, "Well, if He does exist, where was He when my parents died?"

Jeff wrapped his arms around her looking sympathetic to her tragedy. He had known about that both her parents died of Ebola, and that was when she had lost her faith. He sighed, as he kissed her on the forehead, and stated, "I'm not gonna play favorites on this. Or even argue on it."

"I don't wanna argue about it either," Gwen admitted, as she looked saddened.

Jeff was silent for a moment, "Well, I'm not much of a religious man, but I know one thing, he moves in mysterious ways." Gwen looked at him confused by what he means as he continues. "It's said that things happen for a reason. If we both of use stayed where our parents lived, we both never would've gone to New York, and we may not have met each other," Jeff finished as he looked at Gwen who had a surprised look on her face. "What? Did I say that wrong or something," Jeff asked worried that he offended her.

"No. I'm just wondering when I started rubbing off you," Gwen looked away with a slight grin on her face, "Because I never thought you would say something that deep."

Jeff looked at her surprised by what she said before chuckling a little bit, "I can say deep things when I want to."

Gwen then smirked, as she said, "You're right one thing though: Things happen for a reason. We went through the pain of loss and found someone we both can relate to. Each other."

She then kissed Jeff who kissed her back as they enjoyed their time together that night. The two stayed in each other's braces, simply having each other's warmth embraces, not even trying to push each other for intercourse. All they wanted was each other to be with one another as they were for now, and that was enough for both.

* * *

 **Meanwhile**

 **Temple**

Ken had been wandering around the strange Egg Chamber that the others had been in. so far the place was creeping him out, even more, as he cringed on it. What was even freakier was the fact was what was in the eggs, as he saw movement in them. He was so freaked out, he accidentally kicked one off its place.

He stumbled a bit, as he freaked, "What the…?" He chased after it, as it rolled down the room, with him trying to catch it.

Finally, it hit a wall, as Ken hit it head on literally. He stumbled, as he held his head, groaning, "Dammit! Stupid space stuff, stupid alien crap! What's next?"

At that moment, the wall he hit suddenly opened, as if he had smashed into a trigger for it to do so, as it slid open. When he blinked at it, he was even more freaked out, but in the stunned way, as he simply stated, "Whoa…"

He walked into the secret room, forgetting all about the egg. Unbeknownst to him, the egg that he had left behind, started to shake a little at times, as the shell casing started to crack… with black ooze dripping out of the cracks.

* * *

 **Prometheus**

 **The Next Morning**

Early morning at around 6am, most of the crew are sleeping with half an hour left to enjoy it before getting ready to work. All but Marek who went in early to the communication to contact Ken to make sure that nothing happened to him during the night. As he goes in with a cup of coffee, he notices that one of the control panels has been removed from some of the panels. He puts his coffee down, kneels down to investigate, only to find that some wires and chips were missing. The same went for the other consoles as well, all the wires were either missing, moved, or the same went with chips. While investigating, he suddenly notices a rolling sound in the room, almost like a bowling ball that was gently tossed down the lane as it slows half way to a stop.

Marek than looks all over the room again as he thinks to himself, 'What they hell? Is this someone's idea of a piratical joke?' His expression goes from confused to one that says he may have realized something, 'Could something have...' Wasting no time, Marek goes for the P.A. system to make sure it still works and then uses it. "This is Captain Marek, all personal to the bridge immediately!"

* * *

 **In Fifield''s Quarters**

The sun rose up and lit through the two circle windows of the quarters, easily awakening Kori, as she felt the warm energy of the sun. She stirred from her sleep as she sat up, looking down at the exhausted Isaac, who was completely knocked out and unaware of the awakened girl. She stretched out, almost daring her cleavage to pop out of the shirt, but stopped, as she lightly stirred Isaac awake. Once she managed to do so, he blinked groggily at her, as she warmingly smiled, "Good morning to you, Isaac."

He groaned a little, smiling, "Good mor…" but then suddenly shot awake, as he remembered what had transpired last night, as he sat up, nearly startling Kori, as he finally calmed down a little.

Kori, a bit on the confused side, asked him innocently, "Are you well, Isaac? Are you still uncomfortable? You do not look red anymore."

He groaned, as he looked to her, "I'm alright. But right now, I have a question: exactly why were you scooting up to me? I thought we agreed I'd sleep atop the covers while you slept under them."

Kori innocently answered, "I was. But I awoke when I felt you shaking in your sleep. So I climbed out and shared my body heat with yours to keep you warm, since you insisted upon sleeping above the covers."

Isaac looked at her with a credulous look as he asked, "So you decided to crush me while warming me?"

Kori looked worried, as she asked, "Did I injure you? My apologies, but when I was small and slept with my Gnorfkas, I would cling to them. Even with my stuffed Zorkno Bear. Apparently, I have a need to cling to items or people when I sleep." She looked at him with concern as she asked, "Was that what happened last night?"

He nodded, grimacing, "Yep, and pretty tightly, I might add."

She nodded sheepishly, feeling a little embarrassed that she nearly crushed him in his sleep. But then she looked surprised as she then said, "Yeah, but I do remember during some time that night, you embraced me too." She didn't know why, but the memory of it, made her blush as she smiled at him, "Though I did not mind; you are surprisingly warm."

Isaac groaned as he let his face sink into the bed sheets. He then groaned into them, in a voice that sounded like he was getting a massage…a very painful back massage, "You know…the problem isn't whether or not it was comfy!"

Suddenly, the intercom went on, as Marek spoke up, "Listen up, everyone. Everybody report to the bridge immediately. There's something y'all need to see right away."

* * *

 **Bridge**

In the bridge, most of the crew arrived in their military pjs along with Kori, who drew more stares with her wearing only a baggy shirt that still clung tightly to her chest, as they saw that all the panels of the control consoles were removed.

"Alright, Marek, this had better be... important," Vickers said when she walked in clearly not in a good mood from being woken up, but then saw the condition of the bridge.

"I came in early to contact Heels to make sure he made it through the night safely, and then when I got here, I found the room like this," Marek explained.

Gwen and Rei wandered around the room looking at the terminals, while Marek attempted to contact Ken to ensure his safety.

"It looks like someone was looking for something inside the consoles," Gwen implied out loud.

Rei also looked around as she stated, "It's more than that," everyone looked towards her as she continued, "Some of the wires and chips have been rearranged."

Chance and Ravel began to reinstall one of the panels in an attempt to get check the system as Vickers became concerned by this and asked, "Someone has tampered with the systems? To the point where nothing works anymore?"

Chance continued to reinstall the panel as he answered, "We'll know in a few minutes once I have this working again."

'It must have been that alien girl. One day on the ship and she screws everything up,' Vickers thought to herself, as she used peripherals to look at Kori in general. 'All I need is the evidence and I can this freak thrown out of the ship to die of air poisoning.' She knew that the alien girl had something to do with this, but she couldn't just jump the gun without evidence to back her claim, otherwise the crew would defend her.

"If the systems are down, how long will it take to put everything back in its place again," Jeff asked while looking around for signs of forced entry and clues to who pulled this off in one night. Ravel was trying to access the communication system to contact Ken while all this was going on, "If we have the schematics on hand, about two days. If not, a month, maybe longer."

This led to Isaac stating, "We don't have the food supplies to last long."

"Especially now," Vickers whispered and looked toward Kori with a glare who was silent the whole time with a worried look on her face.

Kori could tell that this woman didn't trust or liked her at all which was also noticed by Isaac who stood in front of Kori, "I was with Kori the whole night, and she was nowhere near the bridge except for right now." Kori looked toward Isaac who was defending her while he and Vickers looked at each other with glares showing that they were working at each other's last nerves.

Suddenly, Chance got everyone's attention by saying, "Finished," as the screens lit up showing that he managed to get one of the consoles online again.

Jeff, Vickers, Gwen, Rei, and everyone moved towards it, as they looked at the data on the screen leading Gwen to gain a perplexed look on her face, "This isn't possible. According to this, the systems are running and processing at ten times the speed."

Everyone became confused by that as Jeff spoke up, "So something or someone managed to get into the ship without bringing in any of the toxic air from outside or alerting the alarm systems, went into the bridge, took it all apart, and reassembled it to make it better?"

Isaac then inquired on that by speaking his mind, "What could do that?"

"It might have been a Galvanic Scraplet," Kori suggested, making everyone turn around while Isaac, who was next to her, turn and look at her with confused looks on their faces as Kori continued, "They are small tech bugs that can enter different types of technology and upgrade them from the inside to fit their nutritional needs."

"So what you're saying is, they enhance technology and in order to consume it," Rei inquired which Kori nodded yes in response to that.

"But why in here," Gwen asked, while she was helping Chance and Ravel to find the cause of the system changes. "If we do have them, then they would've affected the medical lab instead since that's where all the artifacts we uncovered yesterday were stored."

"She makes a good point," Someone just spoke up. "Usually they start with the closest piece of technology they can find to consume before moving on."

Vickers gained an annoyed look on her face, "You're suddenly an expert on the subject, Shepard? Why don't you help us out and try to think of what really could have done this that doesn't sound like something from a TV show."

While still looking at the console Gwen was working on, Isaac gained an angry look on his face that showed with his tone of voice, "Two things, Vickers. First: Kori's idea could be true with what it is because we don't know what else was in the temple, and Rei did discover techno organic slime yesterday. And Second…" Isaac started as his voice becomes nervous, "I didn't say that."

Suddenly, the main computer activated as the rest started up again, and the voice from before spoke again, "I must say, you ship is a real piece of work. Where did you get this piece of junk? In a 12 unit bargain sale?" Everyone looked towards where the voice was coming from; right at the main controls as the voice continued, "It took me all night just to rebuild everything to be compatible with my interface port." They were all a bit surprised and confused as well, as the owner of the voice revealed itself to be the sphere that Isaac found and brought back. And at the moment, it was currently bathing the main terminal in the bridge with a glowing blue light from its only one optic.

This turn of events left everyone shocked and speechless until Jeff was the one to find his voice, as he jabbed a finger towards the floating sphere, "What the hell? That piece of junk can talk?!"

The orb seemed to take that as an insult as it stopped what it was doing, and flew into Jeff's face, as it continued, "The only junk here, my good sir, is this ship. What sort of species flies around the universe without hyper shock-jump jets?" The orb then flew over back towards the consoles, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a lot to catch up on."

However, Vickers suddenly became defensive as she got in the orb's way, and demanded answers, "What do you mean? What are you doing?"

Before anything else can be asked, the orb suddenly pinged and then answered, "I was just finishing checking your database for any important data and nothing connected to me."

Gwen was suddenly confused by this, "Why would data on our ship be important to you? And who and what are you anyway? Some kind of metal orb CPU?"

The orb's visor lit up as the rest of the terminals were reinstalled by multiple wires that came out of the sides of it. "First off, I don't know who I am. The last thing I remember is someone tinkering with me in a dark place and then I'm in this scrap heap of a ship. I was hoping your database could give me some answers, but I needed to rebuild it from the inside in order to it to be compatible with my systems. As for a name, I believe my serial number was XJ-49031."

They all blinked at that, as Isaac commented, "Yeah, we're not gonna remember that. We'll just call you Sphere."

The orb, now identified as Sphere, simply commented, "Well, it's much better than a mouthful, I suppose. And I hate the name orb.

But Kori smiled, as she walked to it, scooping it in her hands away from Vickers, as she smiled, "Oh, I know what this is. It is a Ghost."

Everyone blinked at that, as they all asked, "Ghost?"

"Yes, it is a portable link to the Source Computer of Alpha Prime: the central City Planet of what is known as the Galactic Alliance," Kori explained. "My people are members to it and diplomatic curriers, as my home world of Zamaron produce very tasty fruits and vegetables that are infused with many healthy vitamins and body enhancing properties for the immune systems thanks to our planet's two suns." She then gently allowed the Ghost to hover back in place, "The Ghosts are a small branch of the Source A.I. in the central city, and act as ship keys to the local law/military forces of Alpha Prime. They are usually assigned to one officer and one ship."

Isaac walked over to it, as he brought out the question, "So where's this guy's owner? And what's it doing all the way out here?"

"Well, that I can't recall," Sphere replied, but then looked to the consoles, "But for now, suffice to say, I have something for all of you. It would seem last night, you had a caller, and he sounded really ticked off."

Suddenly, Ken's voice was heard on the comm system, "-etheus, this is Ken! Is anybody there for #$! SAKES?! I swear if you are all playing some sick joke and ignoring me by Shepard, I'm gonna crush his balls into-"

The message went dead, as Sphere stated, "And that's it. The storm caused interference with the recording. Whatever it is, this was hours ago."

Marek checked the map and saw the blip on it that represented Ken's suit, "Alright, everyone. Gear up, and get ready to head back. Looks like a rescuer needs some rescuing."

* * *

 **Later On**

 **The Temple**

Later on, after getting dressed and geared up, the team drove back to the temple, accompanied with Sphere and Kori. Once the vehicles were all parked up, they made their way to the temple, along with Kori walking alongside Isaac, as she seemed to pull and tug at the black spandex film of her suit.

Her SIG suit had been modified by Rei's programmed adjustments to the SIG chamber's computers. She was wearing the same black spandex-like material from head to toe, and had purple armor parts. Her chest was in a V-neck line chest and abdomen plate protector, and two armor parts that protected the outer part of her thighs and wrapped around her mid thighs, with two circle pad pouches on her hips. She had knee and ankle guards, but no boots, due to her not needing them as she could fly and go fast. Her arms had two purple bicep bands and forearm guards that reached from her elbows to the back of her hands. She had the same collar guard like the others, but her SIG pack was much smaller. Her helmet's faceplate was gray with a purple mouthpiece, a silver back that allowed her hair to be free, and an M shaped guard around her face making it look like a warrior's helmet.

She stopped as they were entering the main area to where they found out they could breathe in the temple. Isaac noticed she wasn't following suit, as he and Sphere stopped to look behind them, and saw her pulling at places like her breasts, legs, or at times hopping on one foot, while pulling at the toes of the suit.

The two looked to one another, as he looked to her, and asked, "Um… Kori? You okay?"

The Zamaranian groaned, as she pulled at the black fabric tight on her neck, as she groaned, "Ugh! This suit makes me feel like I am wearing the shell of a Cerebralcean crab that is almost at the point of molting."

Isaac looked at his suit, and admitted out loud, "Well, I feel pretty okay. Maybe you're just not used to wearing a fullbody suit."

Sphere hovered to Isaac, as he explained, "Well, for Zamaranians, they wear as little clothing as possible, as their flight abilities, enhanced strength, and durability are all drawn from energy they store in their bodies from merely soaking up their or any planet's sun radiation."

Isaac blinked, as his helmet folded back, as a stunned expression on his face was shown, "Really? So your people don't mind being… naked?"

Kori, who didn't seem fazed by the question, merely smiled as her helmet folded in, as she shook her head, "Not at all. Zamaranians are very open and do not worry of such trivial concerns."

Sphere pointed out, "You might say they're the most open-minded race in the galaxy."

The trio walked after the others, as Isaac looked to Sphere, "You know, for someone who doesn't remember what happened on this planet, you seem to remember an awful lot about Kori's people and planet."

"My species and planetary knowledge is stored in an energy compendium to which is the Source computer of where I was 'birthed'," Sphere explained. "That knowledge is external and can never be dampened, though I must admit the updates are a bit on the slow side, since we're so far from the Alliance's range. We're not even close to their system. It's only my knowledge of what happened two years ago when I and my partner arrived on Aegis 7 that things are a bit… fuzzy."

As they walked and caught up, Isaac then decided to ask, "So, Sphere… what's Zamaron like?"

That question took Kori by surprise, but didn't show it as she looked away. But she listened, as Sphere began to tell him what he wanted to know, "Zamaron is in some terms, a lush and tropical climate planet that revolves around two Suns: one giant red mass while a small green sun star orbits the planet itself. They used their advanced scientific skills to make Zamaron a tropical paradise where man and nature stand side by side."

Isaac was stunned to hear that, as he asked to be sure he heard corrected, "Zamaron has two suns? So that means they have daytime all around with no night?"

"Oh no, there is a night, Isaac," Kori chimed in, smiling, as she explained. "The nights of Zamaron last ten hours, but is wonderful to wait upon. When the two suns eclipse on one another, it allows the stars to shine, allowing us a glorious view of the heavens above our world."

Isaac seemed rather amazed in awe at this, as he stated, "Man, your world sounds like paradise."

As those words sunk in, Kori's happy demeanor seemed to turn to one of sadness, as she looked away, rubbing her left arm. "Yes… it does," Kori said, sounding rather depressed.

Isaac could tell something was bugging her to cause her to get depressed, as he opened up to offer an ear to listen, "Something on your mind to get you down in the dumps? You wanna talk about it?"

"I am not in garbage and my mind has nothing atop of it," Kori replied.

"I think he's asking why you are so sad," Sphere translated.

Kori sighed, as she looked forward, hugging her arms together, "I… I miss my home world. It has been six years since the Creators had taken me and my sister, stripped us and experimented upon us as if we were not people. But all that enabled me to find strength to continue living was knowing that I would be able to see Zamaron again." But then she seemed more depressed, as she sighed, "But now, I fear I shall never see it again. Once you have found your parents and the crew of the Prometheus, I do not know what will become of me."

Isaac was understanding what was troubling Kori now more than it was before. She had been taken from her home six years ago; at that length of time, anything could have happened back on her home world. And now, she had been thrown in with beings that she wasn't familiar with, and with no way to get back. Once they found what happened with the crew, they would return to earth, and Kori would have no way to go back. But then, it hit him, as he smiled in his idea.

"Hey, I've got an idea," Isaac suggested to her, getting her attention. "When we're done here, why don't we use the Prometheus to take you back home."

Kori seemed to look surprised at that, as she asked, her voice full of hope to be certain, "You mean that, Isaac?"

"Sure," Isaac assured her. "We've got two ships now: the Falcon and the Prometheus. If anything we can use one of the two ships to take you back to Zamaron. We can use the hyper sleep bunks to sleep the rest of the way."

"But… are you not longing to go back home with your family," Kori asked, looking worried for him. "You and your cousin have been looking for your parents. Would this not keep you away from one another once more?"

Isaac shook his head, "Nah, if anything, my parents would probably come along for the ride. It's not every day anyone gets the chance to go to two alien worlds."

At that moment, Kori jumped at him, and once again, had him in an embracing hug, as she gushed with a smile, "Oh, thank you, Isaac. You are the nicest Terran boy I have ever encountered." Isaac, on the other hand, was shocked and blushing at the contact of this pretty girl once again embracing him, this time while she was awake. Kori pulled back smiling, but looked concerned, as she saw his face red as a tomato, as she grew concerned, "Isaac, you are red again."

Isaac blinked, realizing he was blushing again, as he gulped, "Oh, I am?" He tried to hide it from her by looking away as he staggered, "Oh um… didn't know that. Thanks. I'll…"

"Wait a moment," Kori insisted, as she walked up to him, and carefully cupped his face, turning him towards her. "Allow me to see if you have a fever." She gently placed her forehead to him, causing him to blush further, as Kori pulled away, looking confusing, as she asked, "I do not understand. Your temperature seems normal, but your facial features are all turning red. Is this normal for terrans to do?"

"Um…" Isaac began, not sure of what to explain on how he felt about her. "Well, Kori, you see…"

"Hey!"

The trio turned to look and saw Jeff and the others waiting for them, as he stated, "I like seeing Shepard go all wiggy here, but we've got a crewmember to find, remember?"

"Right," Isaac stated, as he rushed for the group, leaving a confused Kori and a more amused Sphere to follow. Once they caught up, Isaac asked, "So what's the plan?"

"We're gonna go investigate the room you all found that head at," Marek replied. "Hopefully if that's where Heels was last spotted, we'll hopefully find him there." He then looked to Rei, as he ordered, "Rei, I need you to investigate one of the PUPs."

"Is there a problem with one of them," Rei asked.

"Yeah, it keeps going on and off a location. It's like there's another room it can't access," he explained. "I'll send you the coorindates right now, and you can investigate it."

Isaac stepped up, as he volunteered, "I'll go with her for backup."

Rei was a bit taken but didn't show it, as she replied, "Thank you."

The two walked off, leaving a confused Kori behind, as Sphere stated, "Guess he just needs a little time away for a while."

* * *

 **Later On**

As the others made their way, with Gwen and Kori in front as they walked down one of the temple passages, Kori was using her powers to help light the way with an emerald green light from her left hand using it as a torch. It helped brighten the way more, as they walked along the darkened corridors with the others behind them.

However, Kori was somewhat distracted about something that Gwen noticed this as well. 'She must be feeling more nervous about being back in the temple than she said. Plus this silence between may not be helping.' So she broke the silence with a simple question, "Are you okay, Kori?"

Kori looked towards Gwen, a little surprised, but replied as she calmly nodded, "Yes, I'm all right, thank you. Are you all right, Gwen?" Kori asks.

"I'm good, thanks," Gwen replied. Then it was silent again for a minute as they continued through the dark hallway.

"Gwen, may I please ask you something," Kori broke the silence again.

"Sure," Gwen responded while looking at the wall at some runes that were different from the ones she saw yesterday.

"What is the significance of the Earth concept called the kiss," Kori asked with a curious look on her face.

This caught Gwen off guard as she turned her full attention to Kori with a stunned and confused look on her face as she asked Kori, "Would this have anything to do with Isaac and the one you gave him back on the Prometheus?"

"Yes. When I woke up the second time in the hall of messing, he seemed like he was confused about it even after I explained that is was to learn how to speak his language," Kori answered.

Gwen looked little confused by the answer, "The hall of... Oh you mean the mess hall." Gwen realized before continuing, "Right, he mentioned that you learn other species languages by kissing someone."

Kori nodded, as Gwen continued "Well, you see..." But then she became silent as she thought about how to answer. 'Wow, years of studying ancient languages and reading my aunt and uncle's notes could prepare me for a trip into outer space. But not for answering a question like this.' She started again, "You see on Earth, when two people care for each other very much, kissing each other is one way they show that they deeply care for each other to them."

Kori was silent as she thought about it for a moment and asked, "So kissing on your world is a show of liking someone on your world?"

"Yes, exactly." Gwen responded as she thought, 'That went better than I thought it would.'

That is until Kori asked, "So, does that mean you kiss Isaac to show that you like him."

Gwen gained a failed look on her face. 'I knew it was too easy.' She shook her head, as she replied, "No. The kind of kiss we're talking about is used mostly to show affection for an individual who means a great deal to you." However, seeing Kori's confused look on her face made Gwen try another approach. "How do the people of your planet show how deeply care about someone to the point of wanting to be with them forever?"

"Do you mean becoming someone's partner," Kori asked.

Gwen replied, "Yes."

"Oh, well on Zamaron, they battle in the arena against any others who want to partner with someone for the right to do so." Kori replied as if it was a regular occurrence.

Gwen, on the other hand, got a shocked expression on her face as she thought to herself, 'That might actually have worked in some situations back on Earth.' Gwen took a deep breath as she prepared to try one more time, 'Okay, third's time the charm as they say.' And then further explained once again, but this time with more detail, "Kori, for Earthlings, kissing is a sign of someone who really cares about another which is a also used to symbolize two who are dating, and later married."

Kori has a calm look before the word marriage was brought up… leading to her blushing and gaining a nervous expression, as she asked to be certain, "You mean, kissing on your world is a sign of being in love?" Gwen nodded at this relieved that she got through to her. Kori on the other hand, after turning her powers off, nervously pushed her two index fingers together. "So Isaac thought I might be..." Kori started as a blush appeared on her cheeks.

"None of us really knew what to think of it. Especially Isaac since that was most likely his first one," Gwen explained, remember how girls bullied him at school.

"Gwen, have you ever performed this kiss with a significant other," Kori asked Gwen.

This in turned caused Gwen to blush, as she was caught off guard, as she didn't want her relationship with Jeff to slip up, as she asked, "What!? I mean, what gave you the idea that I have someone like that Kori?"

"It is because you seem as though you have a great deal of knowledge of the subject. I assumed that meant you have experience on the subject of kissing and romantic others," Kori explained to Gwen.

"Hey, wait, can I ask you something," Gwen asked, as she looked back to Kori, hoping to change the subject before anything was brought up further and secrets slipped out into the open. "Before you did the whole lip lingual thing on my cousin, you said a bunch of stuff. I didn't get or understand any of it, but um… what does Secto Ecto gammat mean?"

"Oh, um…" Kori blinked, until she replied, "It means 'Do not touch me again, without my permission'."

Gwen nodded on that, "Ah, that's what I thought you said."

Finally, they had made their way to the main egg chamber, but as they all entered it, Kori seemed to freeze in her tracks. Gwen saw it, as she looked to her, noticing the look of fear on her face, as her eyes widened with fear, and nothing came out of her mouth.

"Kori? Kori, are you okay," Gwen asked.

Kori snapped out of it, as she implied, "Oh, I am all the right. It is… I…"

Gwen could tell that being in this place was the last she wanted to be in right now. She consoled her, "It's alright. You can wait outside if you like."

Kori shook her head, "No, it is all the right. We must go on."

They looked around, as they got a good look at the eggs, as Marek asked, "What exactly is in these eggs?"

Gwen looked at them, as she shrugged, "Not really sure. Though I think this might have been an incubation chamber of sorts."

Jeff walked in front, and then spotted something, "Hey, guys. Check this out." They all walked to him, as he pointed towards the wall, "That wasn't there yesterday."

Once they looked, they saw that within the wall was an open doorway. Figuring that was where Ken had gone to, they walked to it an inside. But once they were inside, they were a bit shocked in the most to see what they were seeing. Frozen in cylinder pillar chambers, was row upon row of different lifeforms. As they walked through, hoping to find signs of Ken, they all noticed the creatures in the chambers very carefully. Every last one of them appeared to have the same mutations that the Creator's head had undergone. Some had their jaws torn off, their stomachs opened with smaller arms sticking out, their feet torn into two-toed hind legs, and their arms mutated into claws with sickle blades coming out of the hands. Others appeared armor plated and bulkier while a few others were missing their legs and had overgrown spines grown from where their legs were. Others… they barely resembled bipedal lifeforms anymore. They had all undergone mutations with black technology biografted or mutated to their very being.

As they looked around, Kori spotted something put in a pile on the ground. She reached down, and saw it was Zamaranian robes and jewelry. It was her belongings, as she picked them up, clutching them in her hands. Kori was looking around uneasy, but as she did, flashes of memory came into her mind.

* * *

 _As a ten year old child, she was being dragged by two Creators, kicking and screaming. They finally slammed her onto a table, tearing off all her clothes, leaving her as bare as the day she was born, with black ooze straps tightening around her, holding her down like an animal, as she screamed out for her mother, until a black ooze tendril shot into her mouth, slithering down her throat, as she was unable to breathe but gag._

* * *

She gasped, as Kori collapsed one her knees, hugging herself in fear as the memories of the room started to become overwhelming for her. Her face and eyes showed fear and pain as her body tightened from the memories that flooded her mind like a wave a pain.

Her arms tense themselves from remembering the needles the Creators placed into her for testing their chemicals and her blood.

* * *

 _Months later, she appeared exhausted and almost brain-dead, nearly gone from all the experiments she had been going on. The black straps were across her chest and pelvis, wrists, ankles, and neck, as her eyes stared up in a daze. While IVs and needles were all over her body, taking blood samples as well as pumping chemicals in as well._

 _When she was thirteen, she was thrown naked in a glass tube chamber, filled with water with no tubes. The high pressure water changed temperatures to randomly test her endurance. Kori was struggling to try and get out, but the pressure was getting to her._

 _Fourteen, she was being repeatedly being fired on by what appeared to be other types of energy she could absorb. They were more painful than years ago of what she had endured._

 _At the age of sixteen, she was strapped to a table, continuously being electrocuted, as her body arched up, her head pulling back as her screams echoed throughout the temple._

 _Then finally, her eyes glowed bright green, as did her body, as it radiated with green energy. The Creators stood back, as finally, it erupted into her Sunbolts, blowing up the area around her._

* * *

Kori's face showed pain as she tried to block the memories from her mind as her eyes shut tightly and she clenched her teeth.

"Kori, are you all right," Gwen asked after kneeling down to check on her. Finally, Kori was able to snap out of the memories and come back to reality.

Kori took a deep breath, as she smiled exhaustedly, "Yes. Thank you. I am… I will be alright."

Gwen helped her up, as she acted as a crutch for Kori, as the human redhead asked, "This place… is this…?"

Kori nodded, "This is similar to the lab they… experimented on me." She then lifted her hand, as sparks of her sunbolt energies danced, "It is where and how I am able to do this. No one else on our planet have ever converted their energies to do this. But what they did to me… "

Gwen placed a hand on the sparking one, ceasing it, as Kori looked to Gwen, as she smiled, "You don't have to remember that, Kori. Nobody here's gonna hurt you."

Kori smiled at her kindness, but both were brought back to why they were there, as Jeff called out, "Hey, guys! Over here!"

Once they got over, they saw a red camera vid device, indicating it was Ken's. Marek switched it on, as it showed Ken, slightly freaking out, "Okay, get this. Moments ago, I found this weird shit-o place. I thought the severed head was creepy, but this stuff…" He then showed the creatures in the tubes, as he went on, "But this stuff is just freaky as hell."

But as he looked around, he stopped at one chamber, showing a human in a SIG suit, as he blinked, "Oh my God. Mr. Shepard?"

Gwen gasped, as she looked to the direction the camera was last at… and there he was, Jonathan Shepard in a cryo-suspended animated chamber like all the others.

"Oh my god, I found him," Ken stated. "Holy crap, I found him. I found…"

Suddenly something whirred to life, and anything that wasn't pinned down, was slowly pulling everything in, including Ken. He managed to grab something, as he cursed out, "DAMMIT! WHY THE HELL DOES THIS SHIT HAPPEN TO ME…!?"

And then suddenly, his vidcam was torn off, as he was pulled into what appeared to be a black hole. And once that did, the camera shut off. The others looked to where the end of the room was… and saw the same three-ringed device standing there. Marek finally asks, "Just how many of those things are there?"

But Gwen didn't care, as she raced for her uncle's chamber, trying to get him out. "Come on, someone help me here," she strained, as she tried to get the chamber open.

But Jeff walked up to her, trying to stop her, as he pulled her back, "Gwen, wait. He's here aboard this place, and is in one of these things. Don you think something vaguely is strange about all this?"

Gwen seemed to calm down a bit, as she nodded, as Jeff led her away. But before they could even come up with a plan to take him back, Gwen suddenly, pulled Jeff's pistol out, and shot the glass. The fluid waved out, as Jonathan's body collapsed on the ground. Before anyone could berate Gwen's impulsiveness, she ran over to him to help her uncle up, as he coughed out the liquid.

Gwen eased her uncle, as she spoke to him, "Uncle John? Uncle John, it's me, Gwen."

Everyone came over to him, as he coughed up, looking at Gwen, "Gwen? Is that you?"

Gwen tearfully nodded, "Yeah, it's me. Isaac's here to."

He shook his head, as he whispered, "You shouldn't have come here. This place… it's not what we thought… they weren't what we thought…"

Gwen looked confused by this display of her uncle's behavior, as she tried to reassure him, "Uncle John, it's okay." But then she asked, "Where's Aunt Martha? Where's the rest of the Prometheus crew?"

Jonathan managed to wheeze out, "Dead. All of them."

Gwen blinked at that, unable to comprehend on what was going on, as she asked, "Wha…? Uncle John, I don't understand…"

But then Johnathan looked down, as he heaved out, and barfed out what appeared to be black liquid. Seeing this, Gwen looked to Ford and called out to her, "Doctor Ford, I need you over here!" As the doctor raced over, she looked to her uncle to reassure him, "Uncle John, it'll be alright. We'll get you back…" but then paled as she saw that his skin was slowly becoming deathly pale gray… and cracking.

As the doctor rushed over to help Shepard, and the others were preparing to go, Gwen radioed for her cousin, "Isaac! Isaac, can you respond? We found your dad! I think he's ill!"

* * *

 **Meanwhile**

 **Moments Ago**

Before the incident occurred, Rei and Isaac walked down a darkened pathway, as they reached the end to where the PUP was hovering in place. The little sphere was whining out like a puppy, as Isaac looked at the end. He knocked on it, as he shrugged, "Maybe it's a door." He looked to Rei, as he asked, "Think you can open it?"

Rei looked to the side, and saw glyph marks, as she walked over to it, "I believe I can." She then proceeded to try a combination to unlock the door… which it worked, as it slid open.

They walked in, as they saw it was a very large round room, with a stage platform of sorts, as they walked up on it. Though as they did, another holographic video play was shown, as the two were witnessing it. They saw in the end corner of the platform a control panel of sorts, as one of the Creators were working on it. Rei recognized the buttons it pressed on, as Isaac saw the others were going into coffin-like chambers, cryo chambers of sorts.

As Isaac stumbled in the center of it, the holograms ended, and the room seemed to darken, as another hologram appeared. But this time, it was all around them, as it took on the form of a solar system… or rather solar systems. It was a giant map of maps that seemed to span all over the room, in which it showed dozens of worlds. All of them completely unknown to Earth. Isaac was all in awe at seeing all the maps, to which no words could describe them.

Rei… unknown to Isaac, smiled at seeing this before her. She personally recorded all the maps in person in her own memory bank. The hologram ended, as in front of Rei… was the small holographic image of earth itself until it disappeared. However, something caught the two by surprise, as they saw a yellow light blink near one of the chambers. The two walked over, as they saw sleeping in the chamber… was the only living Creator left.

Isaac, getting a good look at the guy, commented, "Man, he's huge…"

However, their moment of discovery ended, as Gwen radioed to Isaac, "Isaac! Isaac, can you read me?!"

Isaac tapped the radio comm, as he replied, "Gwen, yeah, it's me. Listen you're not gonna believe what we found…"

"Isaac, we found your dad," Gwen replied, causing him to look surprised by this news, but looked horrified, as she stated, "Hurry back, we gotta get him back to the Prometheus! I think he's been infected with something!"

Both he and Rei looked to each other, as he radioed, "We'll be there fast!"

And with that, the two bolted out of there, leaving the Last Creator to slumber, as they made their way back to the transport.

* * *

 **Next Chapter:** **Fear Transforms; Unexpected Bundle of Horror pt.2**


	8. Fear Transforms pt2

**Author's Note: This chapter was made possible by the diligence of Sideways865. Thanks, man.**

* * *

 **Explorers of the Universe**

* * *

 **Chapter 7: Fear Transforms; Bundle of Terror pt.2**

* * *

 **Outside the Temple**

Everyone was speeding to get Jonathan Shepard into the RV vehicle as fast as they could. Isaac and Rei had caught up fast enough to see Jonathan being carried into the vehicle, yelling out in pain. As Isaac and Rei hopped in, the vehicle sped towards the Prometheus as fast as they could, while Marek was radioing the ship for immediately action.

"Prometheus, come in," Marek radioed back to the ship in a hurry. "We need a medical team standing by in the air lock. Full quarantine failsafe."

Vickers was on radio, as she asked, "This is Vickers. What's going on?"

"We found Jonathan Shepard; but he ain't doin' so hot," Marek replied back. "He seems to be suffering some kind of viral infection."

The others were holding Shepard down, as he was thrashing about, yelling out in pain. His skin was becoming more deathly dark and cracking around the jaw line, and his eyes were becoming gray as well. Isaac rushed to his father, as he saw him in his current condition. He looked to Gwen, as he asked, "What's happening to him, Gwen?"

"I don't know," she replied. "He might have caught something in there."

"But we all had our helmets off, but we're not mutating," Isaac stated.

"Well, whatever it is, we gotta get him in cryo to slow it back down," Marek replied, as he radioed again, as the vehicle was getting closer to the Prometheus. "Prometheus, this is Marek! Make sure that back door is open!"

Isaac went back to his dad, to which Kori was sitting near and holding him down, as he asked her, "How's he looking?"

"He looks… sick," Kori replied, as she looked to him, her visor's eyes looking saddened and worried. "Isaac. I am afraid… he might not…"

Isaac shook his head, as his voice seemed stressed out, as he spoke up, "He'll make it. He'll make it."

Jonathan looked to his son, as he blinked, "Isaac? Isaac, is that you in there, buddy?"

Isaac nodded, as he replied to his father, "Yeah, Dad. It's me."

Jonathan weakly chuckled, "You came after all."

At that moment, the vehicle stopped, as it pulled over, allowing everyone to get out, but not before Jonathan's SIG helmet folded on, as they helped him get to the ship. Though he continuously spoke to Isaac, as he pleaded, "Son… do you know how I know there's a God out there?"

"I don't know, Dad," Isaac replied, as he asked, "How?"

"Because…" he weakly replied to his son, as he chuckled, while groaning in pain with every step they took, "Because… he gave me and your mom you."

Isaac was silent for a moment, as he tried to wrap his head around his father's choice of words. Never in once in his life did his father ever utter such a thing. Not because he was an atheist; he did believe in a higher power. He feared that something was going on that his father wasn't telling him, as he assured him, "You're gonna be alright, Dad."

"Isaac, what's he saying," Gwen asked, as she ran up to them, but they stopped as they saw the hangar door not even open. "Why aren't they opening?"

"Vickers! What's going on," Marek demanded.

As if he had been answered, the hangar door opened, as the platform was before them. But not just crewmembers or the vehicles were shown inside, but Vickers was waiting for them as well. And in her hands was a flamethrower… pointed right at Isaac and his father.

"Vickers, what the hell is this," Marek demanded.

"He's not coming aboard the ship," Vickers made clear, as her finger never left the trigger.

Kori then stated, "But he is ill!"

"I can see that, Alien," she stated. "That's why he's not coming aboard my ship!"

"Your ship?! I thought this was the captain's?!" Isaac demanded an answer, as he set his father down gently.

"He's the captain of the Falcon, and either ship belongs to the Company, meaning they're both mine, and I'll see what goes on, who stays on, or who I choose to throw off," Vickers stated, and then pointed her flamethrower at Kori, but not in a threatening manner, "She's no different!"

Gwen ran up, as Vickers aimed the flame thrower at Jonathan Shepard again, "Please, don't kill him! We can still help him!"

"Help yourself," Vickers stated, as she looked to everyone. "Everybody but Jonathan Shepard back on the ship, now!"

"We won't leave him," Isaac stated, emphasizing him and Gwen.

Vickers looked at him coldly, as she stated, "Then stay out here and die with him!"

"Wait a minute," Marek stated, while he and everyone didn't notice that Jonathan was getting back on his feet, stumbling forward, as Marek stated, "We can contain him; put him in the med-pod!"

"No, don't," Jonathan stated, getting everyone's attention. "I don't wanna walk around as one of those things… walking around… killing… without a soul…"

Isaac looked, as did everyone, as he asked, "Dad, what are you doing?"

Vickers pointed her flamethrower at him, as she warned him, "Stay back! I'm telling you, stay back!"

"Don't worry… you won't have to…" Jonathan wheezed out… and retracted his helmet.

Isaac and Gwen ran to him, as Isaac shouted, "DAD, NO!"

Jonathan collapsed on the ground, as he gasped, his lungs liquefying due to being exposed to the atmosphere, as his son and niece ran to him. They tried to get his helmet back up, but he fought against them, until he expired, gasping one last breath, as his body went limp, and finally died due to exposure of the elements. Isaac and Gwen cried, as Gwen cried in his chest, wishing for her uncle to come back, while Isaac managed to get back on his feet, and to walk away. He tried to gain some sense of what was going on, but all he could focus on what had just happened.

However, Gwen noticed that her uncle's body was twitching, as she gasped, "Oh my God. Uncle John? Uncle John, are you…?"

Suddenly, the head shot up, as the lower jaw split open… and launched a tentacle stinger that was aimed at Isaac who stood there in shock at what he had just witnessed his father had become.

"ISAAC!"

Gwen shouted before she shoved him onto the ground. Isaac watched in horror as the stinger harpooned Gwen in the stomach sending her off her feet. She crashed back, as she cried out in pain, witnessing such a horrifying thing happening to her. Then suddenly, it began to pump something into her body, as she arched her back, gasping and rolling her eyeballs back.

Jeff saw what was happening, as he shouted, "GWEN!"

He ran towards them, pulling out his pistol, firing at the cords as it nearly pumped in a pint of whatever it was shooting up in her abdomen. The blasts severed the tentacle pumps, causing a green and black liquid to spew out around like a sprinkler, as John's body was convulsing, as was Gwen's.

Jeff scooped her up in a sitting position, as Gwen was still convulsing, gagging, as it looked like she was still being pumped uncontrollably by whatever happened to her. "Gwen, come on! Snap out of it."

Isaac managed to snap out of it as he picked himself up; he, Vickers, and everyone else saw as John Shepard's body was still changing. The suit appeared to be oozing out black liquid, and seemed to cause the skin to merge with the suit. As his body was twitching, his arms became longer and started to nearly relocate to the back, his feet tore apart to make three toed digited feet. His stomach burst open, as scrawnier clawed hands and arms shot out, clawing at the sky. And then finally, exhaust pipe-like spikes shot out of the sides of his back, going down like crocodile back scales, and out of the palms of his hands, dangerous sharp black blade ripped out.

Everyone just stood up in horror, as the beast that was once Jonathan Shepard was righting itself onto its feet, and let out an inhuman roar from its rebirth.

"Am I the only one who saw that coming," Vickers asked in annoyance, but with fear in her voice as she aimed her flame thrower at what was once Johnathan Shepard.

However the mutated monster saw Vickers, and lunged forward with extreme speed using one of its arm blades to cut through the flame thrower. Vickers was knocked onto the ground and was about to be stabbed by the creature. However the creature's attention was turned to the other employees who attempt to burn it with their own flame throwers which led them to becoming the creature's next targets. It lunged at one before he can fire at it and his head was cut clean off by the creature. The Weyward employee's horrified head was sent flying into the air as blood came spurting out of his neck, his body fell down, and the blood spilled all over the floor where he landed.

The second employee pointed his flame thrower to attempt to burn the creature as well, only for him to be slashed horizontally across the chest by the creature as it lunged at him as well. The now dead employee fell over with an equally horrified expression as well as his organs falling out of his body with blood spreading out of them. The Creature stood up with the blood of its victims dripping off its blades as it turned its attention back on to a very scared Vickers, who was still on the floor. She backed away in fear knowing that her end was upon her and that her blood with soon join the other employees.

Just before the creature jumped at Vickers, two powerful gunshots were heard that hit the back of the creature as it cried out in pain and staggered from the shock, but regains its balance. All eyes, including Isaac who had slowly gone back into shock again to see Jeff holding a ZK-47 assault pulse rifle, with an angry look on his face. The creature let out an angry cry while having an equally angry look on his face as it charged at Jeff with its blades ready to strike. He shot at it again with less effect that before as the creature continued to charge at him. Seeing this, Jeff jumped out of the way as the creature slammed into the wall of the ship.

Jeff turned to the others as Rei was beginning to pick up Gwen, and yelled out, "Rei! Marek! Get Gwen to the med lab and help Vickers! HURRY!" He took another few shots at the creature's back which only angered the creature further.

Rei nodded as she began to carry Gwen inside, as Marek went to help Vickers who wasn't pleased with this plan. "You can't bring Miss Tenalds into the ship!" She began to argue with the captain, "She could turn into-"

However, Marek interrupted her, as he picked her up, "Do you want to stay here and argue about this with that thing fighting?!"

Vickers had a displeased look on her face as the four went into the ship's halls. As Rei began to take Gwen to the medical room, she suddenly noticed something, and asked, "Has anyone seen Kori since this started?"

Marek and Vickers also noticed that the Zamaranian girl was missing, as Marek noticed it as well, "I don't remember seeing her in the hanger hall after the creature attacked."

'Hopefully both alien freaks end up dead out there. That way _he_ can't put any blame on me for out guest's tragic death,' Vickers thought to herself while feeling satisfaction on the inside.

Meanwhile back in the hanger, Jeff continued to shoot at the creature which barely slowed it down. 'Damn it! It's like this thing is just eating my bullets! If I don't come up with another strategy, we're all dead,' Jeff thought as he continued emptying clips. He then looked over to Isaac, and yelled out, "Yo Isaac, I could use a hand here!" But Isaac didn't give him a response, as he called out again, "Isaac!"

However, all he could see was Isaac standing there with a look of shock on his face and his hands trembling with fear. It was as if Isaac's brain had been overloaded with his father's transformation and Gwen's injury that his brain was overwhelmed from all of that and he was trying to reboot itself. 'Damn it! Of all times for him to go into shock! Not that I can blame him,' Jeff thought to himself, as he rolled out of the way of another strike by the creature's blades. Jeff recovered as he aimed his gun, and pulled the trigger. Only after that he pulled the trigger, he found out he was out of bullets as he looked at it in dread before looking around for another weapon. The creature charged at Jeff and struck again with a horizontal slash of its blade, but Jeff used his rifle to block it leading to be cut clean in half.

Just as Jeff was about to be finished by the creature as he is backed into a corner… the tide turned in his favor.

Kori flew into the hanger with a battle cry, grabbed the creature, and threw the shocked creature as it screamed and landed outside, crashing into the ground, as it used its blade arms to flip itself back up. Kori landed next to Jeff and held out her hand to help him up.

Jeff sighed in relief at the last minute save, as he thanked her, "Thanks."

"My pleasure," Kori nodded.

"Yeah, but where the heck were you earlier," Jeff asked.

"I was recharging," Kori answered, as she explained. "Zamaranians absorb ultra violet radiation for energy. I wanted to recharge before helping, but this suit prevents-"

But the explanation was put on hold, as the creature picked itself back up again as it growled in anger. Jeff and Kori noticed this, as Jeff reloaded, "Yeah, save the science lesson for later, because big bad and ugly is getting back up again!"

The creature sprang at them with its blades ready to strike with a loud screech, but Kori raised her right hand up as it glowed green along with her eyes, and a blast shot out of her hand at the creature sending it back to the ground.

Kori began to walk out to fight it, "I do not know if I can kill the Slasher with what little energy I have remaining."

Jeff gained a perplexed look on his face as he asked, "Wait Slasher? You know what this thing is?"

"I merely named it due to its arms, but as you said, there is no time for science lessons. I will distract it while you find something to fight with," Kori says as she runs out but shouts back, "I believe the way that it has trouble balancing on its legs are the foot of Achilles of them. Aim for them!"

Kori continued to shoot at it but the creature now known as the Slasher dodged each shot before finally getting close to Kori to attack with a vertical slash. Kori ducked at the last minute to get around it and delivered a roundhouse kick to its head, but failed as it rolled forward. Kori blasted it with more of her energy to attack its legs, but the Slasher used its blades to block the attacks as it moved forward. The battle continued with Kori blasting with what little energy she had left as the Slasher continued to block them.

Kori continued to fight the Slasher by aiming at its legs with energy bolts, but the Slasher dodged the shots, and moved in for the kill. The Slasher got in front of her ready to kill her with a horizontal slash, but Kori jumped back in time to dodge. She then jumped back forward and punched it with her glowing hand while releasing an energy blast that sent it back into a large rock. Kori picked up another large rock that was three times her size and slammed it into the Slasher and the rock it crashed into. Kori looked to see it if worked, but the boulder ended up being cut into little pieces revealing the Slasher damaged, but was still able to fight as it charged with a loud cry at Kori. With no other options, Kori blasted the Slasher with her energy bolts to keep it from moving as it blocked the blasts with its blades.

She had a strained look on her face as she continued blasting, 'I don't know how much longer I can keep this up. But I will not let this creature hurt my friends aboard the ship,' she though as she continued to fire her bolts.

Back in the hangar, Jeff continued to try and snap Isaac out of it by talking and shaking him. "Shepard! You gotta get in there!"

Isaac continued to stand there in shock as he whispered, "But... Gwen... She's... My fault... I..."

Jeff finally had enough of this as he yelled, "Your alien girlfriend is out there right now fighting for us and she can't keep it up much longer! She needs our help! DO YOU WANT TO RISK LOSING HER TOO?!"

Isaac stared in shock at Jeff's words and snapped out if it as shown by him regaining his confidence. "What? Kori is out there," he asked Jeff in shock.

After seeing that his words worked as Isaac realized that he may lose Kori as well. "About time," Jeff then pointed to the set of lockers on the other side of the hanger, "In the middle locker to the right of you, there's something in there that's just what you need for that thing!"

Isaac looked in the direction and sees it. 'There's no way I'm letting whatever my dad become hurt anyone else using his body, especially not Kori,' He steeled himself with as he ran to the locker, opened it, and had a surprised look on his face on what he had found. "What the-" Isaac turned back to Jeff to ask, "Hey, are these Plasma Cutters?"

But Jeff stopped him by saying, "Ask your questions later, just get out before we end up needing any more med beds!"

Isaac, not wanting to argue on it, nodded and took the weapon, which looked like an advanced but bladeless chainsaw, and ran out with renewed spirit. As he ran out, Jeff yelled out to him, "Kori said that its weakness is its legs!"

"Got it thanks," Isaac shouted back to Jeff, as he sat down to regain his strength as he heard Isaac said, "For the record, she's not my girlfriend!"

Jeff chuckled at that and silently said, "Not yet, she is."

Back with Kori, her bolts continued to fire, but they grew weaker and weaker over time. Soon the Slasher was able to move forward while still blocking the attacks until Kori's attack stopped. She fell to her knees in her weakened condition, "That is it. I am out of energy."

The Slasher cried out in victory and charged forward towards a frightened Kori who closed her eyes as she expected her death to approach.

Instead she heard a painful cry and the sound of a machine running loudly. She opened her eyes to see Isaac holding the chainsaw device, but now shooting out a lightsaber-like sawblade with the black slime on it as the Slasher on the ground with its legs cut off.

"Isaac," Kori said as she got back up.

"Sorry I'm late, Kori," Isaac said as she walked over to him. "I'm glad you two weren't that far from the ship."

But the happy reunion stopped, as they saw the Slasher, formally Isaac's father, screech and gargle in pain at its dismembered legs as black slime spurted out where its legs used to be. Isaac held the blade ready to finish it… but gained a look of conflict as he looked at the creature.

'Come on Isaac! This thing may have your father's body, but it's not him. The black slime pretty much killed him,' he thought to himself as the blade shook in his hand, 'So why am I hesitating to do this?!'

Kori looked at Isaac and could tell why he was hesitating to finish it.

But both of them were brought back to the reality of the situation, as the Slasher cried out as suddenly, an extra pair of arms from the abdomen revealed themselves as they worked to replace the function of the legs. Isaac and Kori looked in shock and Isaac knew what he had to do. 'Forgive me, Dad...' he thought to himself and swung the blade and slashed the Slasher's head horizontally in two. The two halves fell to the ground as black slime oozed out of the pieces and more from the body as it finally collapsed from the battle.

Isaac stood over the now headless and legless corpse of what was once his father as it lay flat on the ground. The blade he used to kill the Slasher was covered in the same black slime that was used as the blood inside the creature. It evaporated from the heat it gave off, leaving no drops or evidence that he slashed through. Isaac's hands shook as he stared at what he just done moments ago. The main reason he waited at home for a full year for their return, the reason he boarded the Falcon, the reason he ventured into Creators' ship, all to find his parents. Now due to events no one could have ever foreseen, he stood over the corpse of his mutated father that also hurt the only family he had left, and he was the one who delivered the killing blow to it.

He made all that waiting worthless with just two blows.

Kori watched in sadness as Isaac dropped the blade and fell to his knees in emotional pain. If Kori could see his face through his helmet, she would see the face a boy who was in great pain as he began to cry.

Isaac looked to the sky and cried out in pain and anger, "GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" and looked back down at the corpse in despair.

Kori approached Isaac as she wrapped her arms around his chest from behind. Isaac felt this but didn't move, but he could feel the warmth from Kori's arms and chest as she leaned on him. "I am sorry that this happened, Isaac," she said in a comforting way. "But you have to know that this is not your fault. There was no way anyone could have known the Creators did this to your father."

Isaac continued to look down, "How can you say that," he asked with pain and sadness in his voice, as if he was on the verge of crying, "I killed my own father, even if he was a monster! People always say the worst thing for a parent is out living their child. Now I've done worse by actually killing him."

Kori held him tighter with sympathy hidden behind her mask, but was evident in her voice, "But you came all this way to find him and your mother. That is the true case of family if I have ever witnessed it myself. Besides, your father can rest in peace now, knowing that whatever his body became was not successful in killing his family."

Isaac lifted his head as he heard Kori's point of view on it. It was true that he felt torment for being the hand that took his father's life, but if he hadn't, more people would've died, and that now that whatever replaced his father's mind couldn't tarnish his name further. Isaac placed his hand on Kori's while still having his back turned, and replied, with some of the sadness and pain gone, "Thank you."

Kori didn't say anything, but was glad on the inside that her words helped Isaac let go of some of the pain from the events. "We should go now. We need to check on the others," she said as she was referring to the crew. Isaac then remembered Gwen and Jeff who were hurt in the battle as he picked himself up and Kori let go of him, "You're right. Let's go before something else happens." Kori nodded as they returned to the ship.

* * *

 **Meanwhile**

 **Med Lab**

Meanwhile, Rei had Gwen on the med table after the attack she took to her stomach. At the moment, Rei had tubs attached to Gwen in the hopes of extracting the black slime from her body before it mutated her. Gwen was still unconscious in a patient gown while Rei was on the computer working on stabilizing Gwen and making sure she wasn't in anymore danger.

Despite her lack of emotions, Rei was worried on the inside, as her digital mind was processing what could be described as a mixture of fear and hope for her survival, 'Come on, Gwendolyn, you can't die on Isaac now. Not after what just happened to Johnathan Shepard.'

The computer suddenly pinged with the completion of the process that Rei and put into effect. Rei immediately got up and walked over to see the once empty sacs were now filled with the black substance that was pumped into Gwen along with some of her blood. Rei sighed in relief as she returned to her computer and activated the X-Ray feature to check for any other anomalies in Gwen's body.

The scanner moved and as the results were displayed on the screen that Rei was looking at and found no signs of the kind of mutation the others had witness before with the Creators' head and Johnathan's recent transformation. 'Thank goodness, I would've hated to tell Isaac that Gwen was on her death bed after everything that's happened,' Rei thought in relief.

What she was unaware though, that hidden in Gwen's stomach, was a tiny seed no bigger than a germ that was slowly starting to grow.

* * *

 **4 Hours Later**

 **Med Lab  
**  
After the ordeal, Isaac was out of his SIG suit armor, and was currently looking down at Gwen who was in a comatose state after the battle with his mutated father with a grief filled look on his face. "I'm sorry Gwen," he apologized to the unconscious Gwen, hoping she'd awaken. "If I hadn't hesitated or spaced out like that...," his fist shook in anger, "… you wouldn't be like this." He tried to hide back his tears, but he was failing, even more so when it happened similar to his father, 'We should never have come here. This planet ruined everything!'

The door opened as someone walked in, but Isaac continued to stare at his cousin, not noticing it was Kori, who still wore her SIG suit but had the helmet retracted back.

"Isaac," Kori asked as she walked over to him after she had retracted her helmet to check on him and Gwen. "How is she faring," Kori asked with concern in her voice.

Isaac turned his face away to hide the tears he was trying to hide, but Kori can tell he was on the verge of crying. "She's stable, but Ford nor even Rei don't know why she hasn't waken up yet," Isaac answered with concern in his voice.

Kori looked at Isaac with a concerned and sympathetic look on her face. 'The previous battle has clearly taken a very toll on him. Like a Ctarlplexian who lost a battle against a weaker foe.' But then she turned her attention to the young earth boy, as she tried to cheer him up with a strained yet trying smile. "That is good. She is still alive at least. What about you? I know the situation before was...," Kori started due to knowing how hard it must have been for Isaac to tear his own father like that.

Isaac kept staring down at Gwen. "Back on Earth, I started skipping school due to the bullies and waiting for my folks to come back. Gwen scolded for me for it, despite knowing about the bully problems. She wanted me to go to gain the education needed to make it through life in case mom and dad never came back," Isaac started, feeling like he won't get another chance to. "I was always making her worry and now thanks to me she's...," Isaac continued as the tears became harder to hold back and his fists continued to shake in frustration.

Kori continued to look at him, "Isaac, this is not your-"

"Yes it is," Isaac interrupted her as he continued to sadness and anger in his voice and his expression with his eyes closed to hold back the tears, "You saw what happened outside the ship! If I hadn't been so indecisive when it came to burning the creature my dad became, Gwen wouldn't have been struck by it, and left like this! Thanks to me, my cousin, the only family I have left may be like this forever and it's all my fault!"

Kori placed her hand on his shoulder which caught Isaac off guard as Kori comforted him by saying, "Isaac… that was the first time you and everyone else on the ship fought against a creature like that. No one expected it to lash out like that while dying." She then placed both hands on his shoulders and turned him to face her. "But most of all that was your father. The person you and your cousin came all the way to save. To lose him like that was cruel and you should not blame yourself for it. No one could have seen it coming," Kori explained, hoping that Isaac would realize that none of it could've been prevented. Her face became sympathetic as she explained, "If my Gnorfka- my parent became something monstrous and mindless before my eyes, I could not bring myself to hurt him the same way you could not."

Isaac looked at her shock; that there was reason behind her words but not in a cruel way. He closed his eyes while still feeling awful for what happened as he said, "But still... Gwen may-,"

Isaac stopped when Kori pulled him into a hug as he just stood there a bit surprised. "Gwen will wake up, I am sure of it," Kori said with truth in her voice, showing that she believed it.

Isaac stood there for a minute until he returned the hug, and whispered to her, "Thank you."

Gwen slowly opened her eyes, 'What the... the med lab,' she said to herself as she took in her surroundings. 'What am I... The last thing was...,' the attack suddenly flashed back into her mind which showed on her face. "Uncle John- Aaaaah." She groaned as she lifted herself up from the bed feeling sick. As she was getting up, she noticed Isaac sleeping with his head on the side of the bed with Kori resting her head on Isaac in a comforting way. Gwen was surprised to see this before she made a smile, 'Amazing. This doofus is hated by all the girls at our school, but he's somehow has Kori all over him like he's this one of a kind element.'

Gwen snapped out of it as her expression changed to feeling rotten again as she held her head, 'Still, what is wrong with me?' She then remembered what happened with the creature launched tentacles at her stomach, as she traced her hand over it. 'What did that creature do to me,' she wondered as the door opened up. She looked to see Rei walking in, who noticed that she was awake.

"Gwen. Good to see you are awake and well," Rei said, as she walked over to her patient bed.

"Rei. How long have I been asleep," Gwen asked weakly, showing how weak she was feeling.

"Between four to five hours," Rei answered, as she activated the console in order to run a physical scan on Gwen, "You were-"

"I remember," Gwen said, feeling worse that her uncle and second father had become a monster and had to be killed.

Rei looked at her knowing she was in pain emotionally after having her goal in reach only for it to be dashed the way it was, as she apologized to her, "I am sorry." She then walked over to Isaac and Kori's position at Gwen's bed, and lightly shook them so they could move in order to scan Gwen.

Isaac and Kori woke up in a daze as they both saw Gwen awake. Isaac was the first to jump up as he hugged Gwen, crying out, "GWEN! Oh my gosh. I thought I lost you!"

Kori joined in as well, "Thank goodness you are well again, Gwen. Isaac and I have been worried you were to sleep forever."

Gwen was caught off guard by the hug but returned it after getting her bearings, "Sorry you two, I didn't mean to-"

"I'm the one who should be and is sorry. If I hadn't hesitated-," Isaac started before Gwen interrupted him.

"Isaac, I was hesitating just as much as you were. I could've been you in this bed instead of me," Gwen explained to him showing that she was just as conflicted before as he was. Isaac looked at her feeling better knowing that she was going to be all right.

"I'm sorry to interrupt," Rei started as she looked at Isaac and Kori, "But I need you two to move away, please… so I can run a physical examination on Gwen."

Isaac and Kori nodded in agreement as they backed away from Gwen as she lay back down on the bed. Rei started up the machine that scanned Gwen as a white bar shined a green light that showed it was scanning her. A wave beam of blue light scanned up and down over Gwen's body.

"How are you feeling, Gwen," Rei asked as she operated the scanner.

"Actually, not that well. I feel really weak and tired. It's as if all my strength is gone," Gwen explained as she lay still during the scan.

Kori looked concern as she stated an idea, "Perhaps the creature was attempting to absorb the life force from Gwen when it struck her. It looked like it was looking for the closest body it could find at the time."

Gwen and Isaac looked concerned by this as they remembered how wild the tentacles were at the time. Rei continued to operate the console, "That's a possibility, but until the scan is done, I'm assuming that Gwen's body is getting over the shock from the attack. We'll know as soon as the..." Rei stopped as she looked at the console, confused by the reading she was getting.

Isaac and Kori looked at each other confused before walking over to Rei to see what she was leaving her speechless.

"Rei? What is it," Isaac started as he looked at the screen on the console showing a strange green light pulsating in a steady rhythm in Gwen's abdomen area.

Isaac and Kori didn't recognize it as they looked at Gwen in concern before turning back to Rei, who seemed to be trying to analyze this logically based on her expression. "Gwen," Rei started with confusion and concern in her voice: something she was never able to show before.

Gwen looked in their direction, and asked, "Yes, Rei?"

"Your medical records before boarding the ship says you're a virgin. Correct," Rei started, as she continued to stare at the screen.

Gwen, Kori, and Isaac all gained a surprised look on their faces by the question, but Gwen was left confused by this most of all, as she answered with a mixture of confusion and panic in her voice, "Yes I am. Rei, what does that have to do with me right now?"

Isaac and Kori were also left confused by this as they looked at Rei as she continued to stare in disbelief until she finally spoke up, "Then this... This is impossible."

Isaac, finally having enough of it, looked at Rei, and asked with a small amount of panic in his voice, "Rei, what is wrong Gwen?"

Rei stared for a minute, before Isaac finally grabbed her shoulders and turned her to face him. This time, he asked with a slight more demand in his voice, "Rei! What is wrong with my cousin?!"

Rei stared at Isaac for a moment, and then started before stopping again, "There is no poison in her system and her bodily systems are working fine, but...,"

"What," Kori asked with concern.

Rei finally snapped out as she finally answered, "Your cousin..." and looked to Gwen, "Gwen… is in the end period of the second stage of pregnancy."

The room became deathly silent as everyone took the news in. Gwen, Kori, and Isaac were left with facial expressions showing shock and confusion. "I'm... what," Gwen asked to make sure she heard that clearly.

"You're pregnant Gwen. Near the end of the second stage to be precise," Rei explained as she began to take a closer look at the scan.

Isaac was left dumbfounded by this knowledge, while Kori became excited, "That is wonderful, Gwen. I did not know you were even expecting," she then went over to Isaac, "Did you hear that Isaac? You are going to be an uncle figure!"

Gwen, on the other hand, was still shocked by this, "No, Kori. It's impossible! I never-"

The door opened as Jeff walked in, "Hey, just came by to check on-," But then he saw Rei punching in commands on the console while Isaac turned to Jeff with a glare on his face as he pieced it together, Kori was still excited, and Gwen was left trying to rationalize this news.

Jeff just stood there unaware at what is going on, "What's with all of you? Gwen looks like she's fine and yet you all look like-"

"You bastard!" Isaac yelled out as he charged at Jeff, and pushed him against the door. Jeff held Isaac back as he tried to punch Jeff, "Whoa whoa, Shepard! What's your problem?"

"Jeff, you defiling sunova-! You dare lay hands on my cousin in secret like that," Isaac yelled as he continued attacking Jeff as he went for his face to knock his teeth out.

Kori, on the other hand, was happy as she hovered over, "Oh! Jeff is the Gnorfka of the newfound joy in the life of Gwen? Congratulations," Kori said with joy in her voice.

Jeff looked at Kori in confusion, before looking at Isaac, and asked, "What the heck is she and you on about?"

Isaac continued his assault, as he shouted, "Gwen's pregnant, you idiot! You knocked her up in secret! Just how long has this secret relationship been going on?! Did you two wake up during the trip here and get it on or has this been going on back home?!"

After managing to restrain Isaac from his hold as well as his questions, Jeff's face showed anger as he had enough of this, "Are you kidding me?!" He looked towards Gwen, and calmly asked, "I thought we agreed to keep it a secret?" Jeff looked back at Isaac, as his hands were restrained by Jeff, "Also I don't know anything about..." Jeff stopped mid-sentence as the word pregnant echoed through his head as his face showed him processing this. He then finally stammered, as it registered fully, "Whoa, whoa, Gwen is... Gwen is-is-is p-p-p-pregnant?"

"Yes she is Jeff. You must be so proud," Kori exclaimed in happiness at the joy of life. Jeff on the other hand was left dumbfounded, as he stammered gibberish until he finally fell flat on his back out cold.

Isaac and Kori looked at him on the ground, as she said in disappointment, "That is odd. I thought you and Jeff would be happier at this news Isaac?"

"I'd be happy right now, Kori… if I wasn't finding out about this in a situation like this," Isaac replied, as he walked over to Jeff's unconscious body, and was about to punch him again to wake up him.

"Isaac, stop!" Gwen yelled, getting Isaac and Kori's attention. Gwen sighed, as she allowed her shoulders to slump, and calmly looked to her cousin, as she explained, "It's true, Jeff and I are in a relationship. But I swear, he didn't make me pregnant!"

Isaac stopped himself as he looked at Gwen in shocked. "You mean it's true?! When did this happen," he asked shocked that his cousin would go for the bad boy.

Rei finished typing in the system, as the machine powered down, "You and Gwen can discuss her dating life later; right now you need to focus on the situation right now."

"Yeah, my cousin's nearly two months pregnant," Isaac stated, and then pointed to a still-rationalizing Jeff, as he stated, "And is dating _this_ guy." But then finally calmed down, as he crossed his arms, accepting at least Gwen's taste in boys, "Though to be honest, I'm a bit surprised she'd go for the bad-boy routine; I honestly thought she'd be dating a nerdy workaholic like herself. And that would explain why he jumped in to defend her from Ken."

"This pregnancy is not normal. It's happening far too fast due to Gwen being on the verge of the second stage with no physical signs," Rei explained, as she helped Gwen up. "Kori, help me get Gwen to the Med Pod," she stated as Kori walked over, and scooped up Kori in a bridal hold, much to Gwen's embarrassment. "Isaac, wake Jeff up," she asked of Isaac, as he agreed, and shook Jeff as best he could. "I'm going to need everyone's help on this."

"I'm afraid I can't allow that."

Everyone, including Jeff who had just woken up, saw Vickers at the door with two personal wearing security SIG suits. Isaac became defensive as he got in front of Kori and Gwen. "No way. I already dismembered my father on your orders. I won't let you hurt my cousin." Isaac made very clear with his tone of voice and his determined expression.

Joining beside him was Jeff with an equally determined expression. Kori was still holding a still weak Gwen, while Rei joined with them, as she tried to explain, "Miss Vickers, Gwen has been impregnated by life form from before. We have to get Gwen-"

But Vickers cut her off, as she stated with a stone cold glare, "To a hyper sleep for the duration of the expedition."

This caught the group off guard by this news, as Isaac argued, "Hyper sleep? No we need to get that thing out of her now!"

"Don't push your luck, Mr. Shepard," Vickers stated. "Your parents have wasted enough of the company's money with their expedition and so far have nothing to show for it but dusty objects, multiple missing or dead employees…" and then looked towards Kori, "…and a dangerous alien freak."

Kori was hurt by Vickers' words but didn't show it outward, as she continued, "As of now, Miss Tenalds is carrying a clean alien organism ready for study that will make up for this pointless expedition that will allow us to transport the creature past security"

Vickers then prepared to give the signal to have the personal to capture Gwen.

"Why you-," Jeff said while the others stared with anger at Vickers due to her insulting Isaac's parents, Kori, and making Gwen sound like cargo.

Gwen then began to become worse, as she convulsed in pain, as Rei argued, in an attempt to buy time for her to prepare something without being noticed. "Miss Vickers, need I remind you that Mr. Wayward wrote the rules and regulations himself, and he made it clear that placing people into hyper sleep unless they have committed a crime is a violation of protocol?"

"Oh, we'll think of something to tell them on the way back," Vickers countered. "After all, the children wouldn't risk breaking the confidential part of the contract in which any leak of information is life in prison." Vickers using the contract the kids signed led to a fiercer glare from the group. "Now be the good and obedient toaster oven and bring Miss Tenalds over here… or I'll have all of you put into hyper sleep chambers for disobeying orders." Vickers then thought to herself, 'As for the alien freak, I can just dump her into space somewhere.'

"KLORTHOG!" Kori screamed to Vickers.

However, this only made Vickers scoff, "Calling names won't help you, Freak."

As the stare off continued, Rei finally started to walk forward but attempted to take Gwen, who was too weak to move on her own now.

Isaac grabbed Rei's arm to stop her, "Rei. I can't let you do this."

Rei looked at him with the back of her head facing Vickers' group, "I'm afraid there is no choice, Isaac. Gwen's condition is worsening, and she may die if something isn't done."

Isaac was about to protest, but then gained a surprised look on his face as he saw Rei do something he didn't expect her to do: she struggled to wink at him as if saying 'Wait for it.' Isaac nodded in defeat as Jeff was about to protest when Isaac grabbed his arm to stop him.

Rei walked forward with Gwen over to Vickers' men. As Rei walked over, Isaac stated while glaring at Vickers, "I'd ask if you would promise Gwen's safety, but I have a feeling that would be a lie, wouldn't it?"

Vickers chuckled at that, "You're not as dumb as you look if you figured that out, Mr. Shepard," she looked down at Rei, who had her usually neutral expression, as Vickers' sneered at Rei, "I knew you wouldn't ruin your father's company or his legacy."

Vickers lifted her hand to motion one of the men to take Gwen, but not before Rei stated, "You're correct…" she then pulled out a tranquilizer shot in her pocket that she kept hidden on her, and used it on Vickers, who had a shocked look on her face, as Rei finished, "I wouldn't."

Vickers suddenly felt woozy as she started to fall. The personal attempted to grab Gwen but were stopped by Kori kicking one in the jaw and Jeff delivering a fast punch in the other personal stomach knocking the wind out of him before knocking him out with a fist to the face.

The kids then bolted out of there, with Jeff carrying a very much in-labored-pained Gwen to the only spot that they could help Gwen: in the Lifeboat ship where the Med Pod lay in wait for them.

* * *

 **Next Chapter: Faith in Belief; Save Yourself from Hell**


	9. Save Yourself from Hell

**Explorers of the Universe**

* * *

 **Chapter 8:** **Faith in Belief; Save Yourself from Hell**

* * *

 **Lifeboat**

 **Med Pod Room**

The teens raced down the hallway, ignoring everyone they had bumped into. So far, Vickers had not sound the alarm, meaning they weren't being pursued. But Gwen was still in very much deep pain, as she clutched her stomach, her face scrunched in fear and pain, as her stomach began to convulse. Whatever that was inside of her, was growing really fast, and if they didn't hurry in time… she would die from the birth.

Though they made it to the lifeboat, and into the Med Pod room. Isaac reached to the console, as he began typing in commands, as Rei knelt down to him, intrigued that he knew what he was doing, "You know how to use one of these?"

"I read about them in American Science and Technology," Isaac replied, referring to his subscription of a magazine he read when he had free time. "I also looked online and downloaded a guide on it, since I was pretty drawn in to the tech."

"POD ACTIVATED," the Pod's computer replied. "PLEASE STATE THE NATURE OF THE MEDICAL EMERGENCY/PROCEDURE YOU WISH TO IMPLEMENT."

"A patient is in need of cesarean," Isaac ordered.

However, the computer made a beeping sound resounding unacceptable, "NEGATIVE. THIS POD IS CALIBRATED FOR MALE PATIENTS ONLY."

Isaac blinked at that new bit of information, "Wha…?"

"PLEASE TRY AGAIN…" the computer stated.

Isaac shook his head, as he typed in the commands manually, "Abdominal, foreign body, penetrating injuries. Request removal of foreign body from abdomen."

The Pod hummed to life, accepting the commands, as Gwen weakly got onto her legs. Rei walked over to her, removing her gown, as she was only in a pair of white panties, with her hands covering her chest. Rei then quickly administered a shot into her arm, as she explained, "This should dull the pain while the procedure begins."

Gwen groaned, clutching her stomach, "Whatever, just get this thing out of me! It feels like it's trying to rip out of me!"

A ring formed above Gwen, as it scanned her for the abnormalities with a blue light, even with Gwen crying out, "GET IT OUT OF ME!"

Finally, it found the foreign body in her, as two arms extended out; one with a spray finger, and the other one a surgical plasma cutter. "APPLYING ANESTHESIA." The spray robot arm carefully but quickly sprayed Gwen's stomach, as the belly began to convulse with movement. A yellow horizontal line was made shown, as the surgical arm extended down, and began to cut. A blue laser blade gently shot down on Gwen's stomach, as it began to cut. Even though Gwen was on anesthesia, she could still feel pain or rather discomfort, as she groaned out, arching her head back to avoid seeing it. Once the plasma cutter was done, the laser folded back to reveal a pair of rib spreader apparatus, as it gently dug into the cut, and spread it open, causing Gwen to arch back even more. Then finally, the spray arm folded to make a claw that gently entered the hole, and grab whatever it was that had grown inside of her.

As the claw slowly and gently pulled the amniotic sac from Gwen's open surgical hole, everyone was either shocked or stunned in seeing what was coming out. The sac looked like a nice mix of pink and red from what you expect from a human, but the creature inside was hardly anything that resembled a gecko… to which a human would look in development. It was actually a dark grey and green squid-like creature, with a dome similar to a squid's head but with no fins or eyes, and it only had four tentacles.

Gwen was close to hyperventilating, if it not for the mix of pain from the surgery, or the painkillers and anesthetic that Rei had administered before the surgery.

"Rei, get her out of there, fast," Isaac ordered calmly but in a calm panic.

"Understood," Rei marked, as she typed in the commands. "Initiate emergency release and sterilization."

Rei quickly activated an emergency evacuation procedure that opened the pod rather quickly, as the squid thrashed around, screeching in a panic. The arms quickly patched up the surgical opening, closing the hole, and closing it up, using surgical staples, which Gwen groaned at it.

Once the pod opened, Jeff quickly grabbed Gwen, scooping her in his arms, as she whimpered. But Jeff assured her, "Take it easy, babe. It's over. You're safe…"

But suddenly, the squid wrapped a tentacle around Gwen's left arm, pulling her back in, as its screeching sounded rather more panicked. It was almost as if it didn't want Gwen to leave her. But she panicked as well, crying out, "Let me go! LET ME GO!"

The squid was desperate to break itself free from the claw, but also in not letting Gwen go. Jeff was holding onto her, but Kori ran up, and grabbed at the tentacle. She looked at the creature with her eyes glowing, as she roared, "Leave her alone!" And tore the tentacle, as the pod sealed itself, entrapping the injured and crying in pain creature.

"INITIATE STERILIZATION," the computer spoke out, as the pod flooded with a white gas, to which the creature cried out.

They all ran out of the med pod room, as the doors closed behind them. Once the door was sealed and locked, they all slid to the ground, with Gwen still in Jeff's arms, resting her sweaty head on his shoulder.

Isaac sighed heavily, as he groaned out, "Can this day get any worse?"

Back inside the Med Pod chamber, however… it got a little weird instead of worse. The squid creature seemed to survive, as it broke free of the claw. It slithered around the med pod, until it hopped off, and looked around, eyeing the pod it had been in. Then suddenly, it launched its tentacles at it, stretching out, and then the tips branched out, sticking to the pod. The tips then merged with the pod, tearing it apart, as it added its mass to it. As it was eating/merging with the pod's parts, it eyed the computer, as its eye stalks stretched over to it.

Stretching another tendril out, it branched out into ten thin ones, and an extra-long one. The larger one inserted into a data port, accessing the computer, and the ten 'fingers' began to type up a storm. The screen lit up, scanning all knowledge, as its eyes focused on the quick shifting screen like a laser beam, absorbing all the knowledge it was accessing.

* * *

 **Later On**

 **Gwen's Room**

Jeff gently rested a weary and exhausted Gwen onto her bed; her stapled wound carefully bandaged up, as well as her chest. Isaac pulled up a blanket and bundled her up, as she groaned from the ordeal she had. The redhead was fast asleep, while the others were in the room, contemplating on what to do next.

Isaac sighed, as he roughly sat down, combing his hair back, "This has been one nightmare to another ever since we got here."

"Tell me about it," Jeff said, as he sat down to the exhausted Gwen, keeping a close eye on her.

"I mean, I thought once we got here, we'd find my parents and the rest of the Prometheus crew, but so far, all we found was hell on this planet," Isaac sighed.

Sphere floated around, rather quiet, as he looked to Rei, who looked back to him. For a moment, they silently agreed on something, until Sphere spoke up, "Speaking of Hell, there's something you all need to know."

Everyone looked to him, as Kori asked, "What is it?"

"I wasn't sure of how to tell anyone this," Sphere stated, as he hovered near Rei, as he replied, "But I was able to help Miss Rei with translating the distress message that your USAAC had translated."

"I don't understand," Gwen said, as she eased herself down in a sitting position on her bed, while Jeff eased her to be comfortable.

"The message was far too garbled; I made a mistake in the translation," Rei stated, as he replayed the message from before. She then stopped it, as she explained, "I thought whoever sent the message said was 'Liberate Me… Save Me'. But what they were really saying was, 'Liberate tutame', which translates as 'Save yourself'."

"It's not a distress call, it was a warning," Isaac concluded.

"I'm afraid, it gets much worse," Rei includes, as she played the rest of the message, "It was hard to make out, but there was a final part to it. I wasn't aware of it until Sphere cleared the message further."

They listened to the message one final time, as the message was made a little clearer, " _Liberate tuteme… ex infera_."

"Ex infera? What does that mean," Kori asked, unable to make sense of the Latin language.

Rei stopped the message, as she looked to them, and replied, "I believe they are trying to say was 'ex infera'. 'Ex' translated into 'From', and 'infera' being the ablative case of 'Inferi'. Which translates into the English world 'Hell'."

Then Gwen, who looked both tired and terrified, as she repeated the fully translated message, "Save yourself. From Hell." She looked to Rei, as she asked, "I thought as an A.I. you didn't believe in that kind of thing?"

"I don't… but whoever sent the message believed in Hell more than us," Rei replied, as she looked to Isaac. "But if what your parents theorized of these Creators are true, it's quite possible on this planet they engineered a biological lifeform that wasn't the benevolent type… and that became out of control and killed not only invaders but the domestic as well. Who knows what happened on this world, what the Creators had planned… and where they were planning to take it to."

The teens, including Kori, were all terrified on this, but then Isaac became concerned, as he looked to Rei, and asked, "Take? What do you mean?"

"I believe that they…" Rei began.

However, it was interrupted by Marek, who radioed Isaac and Jeff, "Shepard, Carter. You two listening?"

Jeff responded, while still holding Gwen's hand, as he replied, "What's up, Captain?"

"We just picked up two pings outside the hangar door," Marek replied. "The telemetry suits signatures seem to read as Fifield and Milbourn."

Everyone, except for Kori and Sphere, were a bit surprised by that, as the latter were just clueless.

* * *

 **Later On**

 **Hangar Bay**

Isaac and Jeff had left Gwen in Rei and Sphere's care, while Kori flew along with them, as they made their way to the hangar bay. Joining them were a few of the remaining men, as Isaac grabbed the plasma cutter from last time, while Kori's hands lit up. After they had quarantined Gwen and Rei was treating her, Isaac brought Kori back to the SIG room, and remodified her suit's nano-tech black fabric fibers. Now it was more like her skin would absorb more due to the blackness of the suit's fibers. And Jeff readied his pulse rifle, while the others had flamethrowers. One of the soldier crewmembers ran up to the door, and readied the switch.

The soldier had the go, as he pushed the button, as the door slowly opened to reveal the outside again. As they carefully scanned while walking slowly out, they spotted a huge lump before the hangar bay slope. As one of the soldiers walked to it, Isaac readied the plasma cutter to be certain. As the guard finished, he turned to the others, "Guys, it's just a lump of…"

But unknown to him, the boulder-like lump shifted, until it towered over the man, as he turned around. It was a gigantic bipedal heavily muscled creature, encased in a dark grey armored, spiked exoskeleton made from mutated bone and calcified flesh. Its posterior was relatively unarmored, but its two front arms were heavy in muscle, and appeared to have been made by the petrified bodies of Fifield and Millburn, as the nametags were shown on the chest parts. It had a pair of vestigial arms under the chest, used for support if any, and its face was a jawless cobra-shaped dome head with empty eye sockets with glowing grey dots in them.

As the guard quickly turned around, before he could act, the Brutish beast smacked it back, sending him flying into the hangar bay. It roared, as it charged forward inside, with the movements and speed of a silverback gorilla. Despite the heavy armor, this thing was quick for its size. It grabbed one of the guards, and crushed him down the waist, severing him in two, as it killed him with ease.

Isaac launched forward, using his stomper boots to get some altitude in the strike he was about to do. He brought the plasma cutter up on his head, and then as he fell downward to the unsuspecting Brute, he brought down the plasma cutter down hard. However, much to Isaac's shock, the beast's armored body was resisting the plasma blade. The creature got onto its hind legs, and grabbed Isaac with its free hand, tossing him aside, as Kori flew in, unleashing a barrage of sunbolts at its underbelly. It staggered a little, having little to no damage done to it, but swatted Kori away, as she crashed into a towered pile of crates.

Two of the crewmen shot out flamethrowers at it, causing it to shriek and shuffle back. Isaac got up, as Jeff rushed over to help him up. "This thing's like a four-legged tank," he stated, as he managed to get Isaac back on his feet. "I don't think even the plasma cutter's gonna do it. I think we need a bazooka just to get at the soft spots. If it even has any…"

The brute knocked down the two flamethrower crewmembers, and then leapt up in the air. Gravity did the rest, as it brought down its weight on them, smashing into their stomachs. The added weight caused them to cry out in pain and gargle out gasps. It then brought up its heavy fists down, and smashed in their faces, killing them instantly.

Isaac looked around, as he saw one of the RV vehicles parked nearby. And looked to Jeff, "Can you close the hangar door, and distract that thing?"

"Yeah, sure. What are you gonna do," Jeff asked, but saw as Isaac ran for the vehicle, "ISAAC! Damn! Why the hell does this crap have to happen to me?!"

Isaac ran to one of the RV Terrain vehicles, and hopped up, going to the driver's seat. He closed it behind him, despite the crewman trying to get him out, as he began to hotwire the vehicle. "Dammit! Why the hell can't this thing be easy to start up?! Red over blue my ass. Where's an ignition button where and when you need it in situations like this?!"

As the Brute attempted to go after the remaining crewmen in the hangar, it was suddenly fired upon by a barrage of bullets. It didn't do any damage to it, but it did catch its attention to the source of its annoyance. Jeff, who had fired the pulse rifle at it, lowered it, as he shouted, "HEY, FUCKAH! Yeah, you! Come on!" And then ran to the hangar bay door switches.

The beast roared, as it left the surviving members alone, and charged at him. Jeff looked behind him, and cursed, "Shit! Shit, shit, shit! It worked too well!"

He stood in front of the controls, as the beast roared at him, and pounced. But Jeff saw it coming, as he used his Stomp boots to leap up over it, and fired a few shots at its back, hoping it would at least do some kind of damage.

He landed right behind it, as it lumbered around, and roared at him, attempting to kill him yet again. Jeff held up the rifle, preparing to shoot it, as it roared again. "Isaac, whatever you have planned, you better do it fast…"

HONK! HONK!

Jeff turned around, as he saw the lights blazed behind him, as well as something fast moving towards him. It was one of the RV Terrain vehicles driving fast at him and the brutish beast… and Isaac was at the wheels. Jeff launched himself away from the vehicle, as it sped past him, and then smashed right into the brutish creature, pinning it against the vehicle and the hangar bay door. The beast thrashed around, trying to push away the vehicle that pinned it to the wall, but the six-wheeled 'tank' kept pushing at it.

But it was starting to push back, yet it wouldn't come to pass. As Isaac hopped out, as Jeff reached to him, and pointed the weapon at its left arm, showing the sinews that held the arms to the shoulders were exposed. He aimed his weapon at it, as he said, "Screw you, pal." And fired away, hitting the sinews, and severing the arm.

The beast roared and thrashed, as it tried to get loose, while fighting the pain of its own arm severed. But suddenly, a barrage of sunbolts struck it, tearing into the exposed flesh, as it was torn to pieces. The boys looked to their right, and saw a fully awake, fully charged Kori, standing at the ready, and retracted her helmet, to reveal a combat-proud smile.

Isaac smiled, as his helmet retracted back into his suit, "Kori, you're alright."

"Of course," Kori stated, as she pointed to where she was thrown at, "But you shall not believe what I had discovered when I awoke."

She led them to the down crates, and pointed to the buried set, as she walked over. She then dug inot it, and yanked out something… by the wrist. The two were surprised to see what they had found: a partially destroyed male android, with slicked back blonde hair, and dull blue eyes.

Isaac blinked, as he confirmed what he saw, "A David model Android?" He looked it over as he gently took it from Kori, "These androids were the first humanoid models ever made. Right up unit they started to build female and teenager models. He must have been part of the Prometheus crew."

"So what the heck is h doing buried in the hangar bay crates," Jeff asked.

Isaac examined the damaged remains, until he finally answered, "Not sure. But if he can still talk, he might be able to tell us himself."

* * *

 **Back in Gwen's Room**

They rushed over to Gwen's room, as they took the remains of the android with them. While Jeff helped Gwen sit up for her to listen to what was going on, much to her insistent, Isaac was working on the droid along with Sphere. So far, the little guy's blue light he shined up on it made repairs go by much faster than expected. But the question was brought up, as Kori asked, "Isaac, if I may inquire… why the repairing of a damaged droid is so necessary? I do not think it will be capable of walking about on its own. It will only be able to speak…"

"That's the reason why we need to fix David," Isaac answered, still focused on the repairs. "Maybe he can give us answers on what happened when they landed. Or about what's been going on since we got here."

"We need to find answers; David's the only one that can give them to us," Gwen backed him up.

Isaac and Sphere made the final adjustments, and the neck of David sparked a bit. Isaac set the droid's head down, standing it up on its neck, as it blinked its eyes, looking around erratically. "David? Can you hear us," Isaac asked the head. He lightly tapped the head, giving it the old whack treatment, as he asked, "David, can you hear me?"

Finally, the head responded, spitting out the milky fluid, as he spoke, in a more robotic tone than that of a human like Rei, "Yes, I can hear you."

Isaac then asked, "What were your orders aboard the Prometheus when you arrived on Aegis 7 and discovered any signs of the Creators?"

David tweaked a little, as he looked to Rei, "She knows. She had the same orders. Though I can tell she had a change of mind."

"Change of ethics, in point of fact," Rei replied. She then answered the others, as she replied, "My orders were… if there were any signs or evidence of the Creators. Bring back samples back to Earth: Priority One. All other priorities rescinded."

"As I said, precisely like my own," David replied. "I was the one who started the epidemic by exposing the corpse of a crewman who died due to a malfunction of his suit. The results were… unbelievable."

Jeff got up, not too happy about this piece of information, brandishing a blaster pistol at the damaged robot, as he demanded, "Screw Wayward and his fuckin' Unitology B.S.!" He then pointed to Isaac and a weakened Gwen, "What about their parents/uncle and aunt? What about our lives, dammit?!"

"I repeat: all other priorities rescinded," David replied.

Gwen weakly held Jeff's arm, telling him to calm down. He silently conceded, as he backed away, putting his gun down, as Gwen asked, "What are we dealing with?"

David twitched, as he answered, "Well, my sources are a bit unclear as I didn't have initial time to study the samples I gathered before all this. But from what I discovered… these 'Creators' had begun creating a new lifeform using a virus that can mutate dead cells, creating a fusion of flesh and metal. The end result is a highly-evolved formidable undead killing machine, of which I dubbed Xenecromorphs. Apparently they act as a sort of termite/ant colony or bee hive system; different types of castes within the colony of sorts. Apparently they're programmed to kill and infect any dead body they come in contact. The more they kill, the more is added to the hive/colony of sorts."

"But Mr. Shepard was not dead; he was alive when he awoke from the sleep of hyper," Kori inquired.

"Yes, but he had already been injected with an overdose of drugs. At a guess, after Mrs. Shepard was murdered, he tried to commit suicide before anything else happened," David implied. "I had him in cryosleep to prevent further damage to his system before he could be safely brought back to Earth. Unfortunately, I wasn't aware of how quickly the carrier caste can infect others, as the ship was overwhelmed. Luckily, Dr. Martha Shepard managed to send an S.O.S. to USAAC… before her death."

Isaac and Gwen were nearly in shock to learn this bit of information; that Isaac's mom and Gwen's aunt had sent the Latin message. Finally, Isaac managed to ask the big question, "Why did you unleash it in the first place?"

"My orders were to bring back a sample of the virus: Peter Wayward had given me the orders himself," David replied. "Once the Carrier had been unleashed, the first it infected was Captain Rowanoak, and the uncontrollable pattern of killing and infection begun." He looked to Isaac, as he replied, "Your parents managed to survive long enough for an SOS, before your mother had met her demise. I couldn't afford to allow the ship to go any further in damage. So… I took steps."

Isaac allowed it all to sink, until he asked, "You brought in the toxic atmosphere?"

"Yes. But only when they became uncontrollable," David implied.

"Is there any way to kill them," Isaac asked.

"Yes, actually. They may be undead, but they still have the occasional weakness," David replied. "They're weakened when they're dismembered, but to thoroughly do it, destroy the head or sever it along with the rest if you can. Though some I theorized may evolve with armored bodies, but like most armor, there's a chink in them." David then seemed to muse a little, as he replied, "The perfect organisms… even though they're no longer alive, in a sense. Their structural perfection is matched only by their hostility."

"You admire them, don't you," Sphere asked.

David looked to the floating orb, as he answered, "I simply admire their _purity_." He then looked to the others, seeing the calm frightened looks on their faces, as he went on, "Killers… methodical, unclouded by conscience, remorse, or any delusion of morality."

Jeff sighed, as he knew Gwen was weak and tired, and the last thing she wanted was to be scared. "Well, I don't," Jeff replied. He then looked to Isaac, and asked, "Isaac, I think we've all heard enough. Just pull the plug on him, please."

"Yes please," David seemed to plead rather calmly. "I might be reworked, but I'll never be top of the line. I'd rather be nothing." Isaac nodded, as he reached to pull the plugs out, but David interrupted one last time, "Last words, though."

Isaac halted, as he asked, "What is it?"

"If these Xenecromorphs infected and overrun an entire planet, and you were all on it… well, I can't lie to you about your chances then or now, but…" David finished, as he finished with a small sympathetic smile to them. "…you have my sympathies."

Isaac pulled the plug, as David let out a small synthesized breath sound, as he shut down for the last time. Everything was quiet, as they turned to Rei, who seemed unfazed by what they had just found out about her orders. Until Gwen, who looked ragged from her experience with birthing the alien creature. Jeff, was probably wondering when and if he was gonna shoot her or not. She could take the stares of hatred and distrust; she was practically built and brought into a world that distrusted her kind completely. Sphere's look was obviously hard to determine since he had only a blue lens for his face. But when she saw Isaac and Kori's faces… she just felt guilty, if she could feel at all, to her belief. They didn't seem angered or betrayed, but rather… hurt.

Isaac stood up, finally breaking the silence, as he stated, "We need to talk to Marek. We've gotta leave the planet as fast as possible."

"The Prometheus's shielding's a bit on the iffy side," Sphere stated, reminding them of the situation. "Not to mention your other ship, the Falcon, is still in need of a hull repairing. For the moment, I'd say we're all dead in the water."

Gwen groaned, forgetting her distrust of Rei at the moment, as she rested her forehead on the palm of her left hand, "What was the whole point if things got this screwed up?"

Finally, Rei found the moment to speak up, as she looked to them all, "If you trust me long enough… I can show you right now."

* * *

 **Later On**

 **Medical**

After a while, Rei was leading everyone, minus Sphere and Kori, to the medical center. Jeff was gently carrying Gwen in his arms; apparently, she was still a bit whoozy from the surgery as well as the painkillers. Isaac, seemed politely confused on what they were being led to, as Rei was in the lead. Once they reached their destination, Isaac saw that they had made their way back to Medical.

Isaac blinked, as he looked to Rei, who was about to open the door, "Rei. What exactly are you trying to show us?"

Rei entered the codes into the door, as she turned to look at Isaac and the others, as she answered, "You believe that Miss Vickers is the one orchestrating all of this, am I correct?" They made no head movements or answers, as Rei gave them the answer as well, "She merely wishes to return home and claim her family business; she has no interests in discovering the origins of humanity, or the adventures of exploration. She's simply a business woman seeking to make a percentage. Gwendolyn's impregnation of an alien embryo was merely a chance for her to take the creature to the Wayward Industries' Bio-Weapons Program. Though thankfully, that has not come to fruition."

Isaac and the others were processing it all, as he finally asked, "So if Vickers wasn't the one who ordered the whole 'Bring Back Aliens and Screw Everyone Over' Plan, then who was it, and why?"

"Maybe you should ask him," Rei answered, as the door hissed open.

Isaac looked confused more, as he walked up to Rei, and asked, politely, "Him? Him who?"

Once the door fully opened, Isaac and everyone else were visually greeted by everyone in the room. Ford was treating a recovered Vickers, who seemed to calmly glare at the teenagers when she saw them. The guards that were meant to escort them were in fully recovery but didn't hold a grudge like Vickers was doing. But the most prominent sight they saw, was the individual that was having their feet cleaned by a male nurse.

It was none other than Peter Wayward, still alive and freshly brought out of cryo-stasis, as he looked to the teens, and casually greeted them, "Glad to see that we've finally met. I suppose you have questions that need answering don't you?"

* * *

 **Next Chapter: Meeting Their Makers; The Ultimate Question: Why**


	10. Meeting their Makers

**Explorers of the Universe**

* * *

 **Chapter 9:** **Meeting Their Makers; The Ultimate Question: Why**

* * *

 **Med Lab**

Everyone who had arrived within the med labs were a bit stunned. For at this moment, they were all greeted by the sight of the secret crew member aboard the Prometheus: the only known survivor. Peter Wayward himself. Rei walked over to him, as she took over in cleaning his feet, with little to no argument from the android. But Isaac was a bit on the shocked side, as he finally spoke up, "You've been… you were asleep… you were on the Prometheus the whole time."

"Your parents thoguth they were carrying special cargo. Which they were right," Mr. Wayward answered. "Little did they know that I accompanied them on this journey."

"Why," was all that Isaac asked him.

"Well, the doctors diagnosed me that I only had a month left of life in me. The cryo-sleep postponed that as soon as I awoke… meaning I still have a month left. I didn't want to waste that time, until I was sure that your parents could deliver what they promise," Mr. Wayward answered. "To meet my maker."

Rei finished, as she looked up to him, "All done, sir. Nice and clean for you." She then proceeded to slip on his slippers for him.

Gwen, still in pain from the surgery, weakly replied, while holding her stitched up stomach, "But they're all gone. They were killed by whatever was unleashed here."

"Well, that's not true. One of them is still here, in cryo-sleep," Wayward replied, as he looked to Rei. "She saw him asleep in the pilot chamber." And then looked to Isaac, as he hit a nail in, "He was there. He can attest as a witness."

Gwen looked to her cousin, shocked that he had kept this secret from her. But slightly understood, mostly because of what had happened that prevented such knowledge from being shared with. But Isaac then said, "Yeah, great. We know one's still alive. So now that we know, we've got to go."

"We're not leaving," Wayward stated, as Rei placed slippers on his feet. "We're preparing to go see him."

The cousins were confused by this, as they questioned, "What?"

"Rei, my stick," Wayward ordered, to which Rei replied, still having her neutral expression on her face. She handed him his walking stick, as he weakishly tried to get on his feet. But Rei helped him up, as he grunted, but he assured her, "It's alright. I'm alright." Rei backed off, as Wayward stood on his legs, as he looked to the teens, Isaac in particular. "Your parents… they convinced me that if these things made us… then sure they can save us." He then sighed, as he looked away for a moment contemplating to himself, "Save me, anyway."

Isaac looked to him, confused, as he asked, "Save you? From what?"

"Death, of course," Peter Wayward answered.

But Isaac refused to listen to this fool's errand, as he was angry, calm about it, but angry, "That's what this whole thing was about? To meet them in the hopes of extending your life?! In case nobody bothered to bring you up to speed on current events, but the Creators… they're monsters! Or rather, they're now in the business of creating monsters! That's what happened to the Prometheus's crew! That's what happened to my parents; I should know, I just saw my father hours ago, _turning into_ _one_!" Wayward didn't seem fazed by that, as he just calmly stared at the boy as he went on, "This place, the temple, everything. I don't even think this was their home planet to begin with; just a testing ground for that stuff they have in the temple! They aren't what my parents thought they were. And because of that, they're dead! We need to leave Aegis 7. Now!"

Then Wayward walked to him, until he was a foot from the boy, as he argued, "And what would your parents do…" And then looked to Gwen, "What would your aunt and uncle do…" then back to Isaac, "… now that we're so close to answering the most meaningful questions ever asked by mankind? Hm? What would they do now that we're close to answering the greatest and universal question ever plagued by our people: Why? How can you simply just pick up and leave, without knowing what they are?"

Isaac was about to punch the man, but then Rei stepped in, defending him, as she stated, "Isaac Shepard. Stand down. I don't wish to use lethal force upon you, but those who attempt to do harm to my 'father' will be treated as enemies."

Isaac was about to argue on it, but then felt a gentle grip on his right arm. He turned around, and saw Gwen, looking down on the floor, saddened and defeated. He then looked back at Wayward's retreating form, but he turned around to simply ask, "Or have you lost your faith, young Isaac Shepard?" And then walked away to his quarters.

Rei turned around and left, as Isaac looked down in defeat. Unbeknownst to him, Rei had a look of pain on her face, to which she didn't know of it… but she too felt defeated by this.

* * *

 **Back in Gwen's Room**

Isaac and Gwen were allowed to go back to the quarters belonging to his parents to recover. Wayward had offered the two a chance to go with him, if they should change their minds about going. Though Isaac was uncertain on this, as he stated, while Gwen was in the bathroom, washing off the sweat. "We can't go, Gwen," Isaac argued. "Who knows what'll happen when that Creator wakes up. He might just as…"

But he stopped, as the door opened, as he turned around to see Gwen wearing her SIG suit before it activated fully. The casual form of her SIG was a skin tight upper and lower torso of the suit, with black fingerless gloves with blue wristbands on it, with a black sleeve on her right arm, ending at her elbow, with two blue lines going down her breasts, and her SIG pants showing, along with the SIG boots shrunk down to sneaker boots.

Isaac blinked at this, as he asked, "You're going, aren't you?"

"We have to go," Gwen argued her point. "We have to know what the Creators are after using these Xenecromorphs."

"After everything that's happened, it's clearly obvious," Isaac argued. "They made that stuff with the intent purpose of wiping out life. They created this black ooze stuff to infect the dead, and then kill off the rest, and then have that infect the dead, and then on and on until the whole planet was just a lifeless ball of nothing."

"If we don't go now, we might never get another chance to know what their goals are," Gwen argued.

"Like I said, it's clearly obvious," Isaac replied, looking angry that he wasn't getting through to her. "These guys were playing mad scientist, and just like Frankenstein, their creation went on the rampage and killed everything. There's no reason to ask them something they clearly know what happened. And if we do go, we could get killed."

"I came here for answers," Gwen angrily shot back. "I'd rather die with those answers than leave without them."

"Well, if you go there, you might," Isaac screamed into her face. Gwen remained steadfast in her decision, and turned away, tears and sobs threatening to escape her cool and hardened demeanor.

"I'm not going to find the truth, I'm going because of Aunt Martha and Uncle John," Gwen said, tearing to him, as her face was close to crying. The very mention of Isaac's parents made him listen, as his anger left, and his mind listened to the truth. Gwen continued, as she began to cry, "I miss them too, Isaac. This is the only thing that I… that I can do for them before we leave. They were all I had, just like you, but I had to lose a family twice." She covered her face with her hands, as she sobbed, "I can't let losing everybody I love go in vain without finding out why they were taken…"

Isaac realized all this, and looked more sympathetic to her. He walked over to her, and gently held her in his arms, cradling her. Until finally, he sighed, "Alright. But I'm going with you… just to make sure you come back."

However, at that moment, the door opened, as Jeff, Sphere, and Marek walked in, as he saw the cousins pull apart. The cpatian noticed the two hadn't prepped for leaving, as he asked, "Where the hell you going, doc? You know what this place is? Those Engineers, this ain't their home. It's an installation. Maybe even military. They put it out here in the middle of nowhere because they're not stupid enough to make weapons of mass destruction on their own doorstep. That's what all that shit is in those eggs. They made it here. It got out, turned on them. The end. It's time for us to go home."

He was turning to leave, as Jeff looked to Gwen, as Isaac replied, "One of them is still alive. He might have answers into what's been going on here. If he decides to talk."

"And you guys really think he will," Jeff asked, doubting any of this.

Gwen looked to Jeff, as she asked, "Don't you want to know what they have to say?"

Jeff shrugged, as he simply replied, "I doubt they have much to say about anything."

Marek turned to them, as he simply said, "I don't care much for any answers. All I do is fly the Falcon." The kids looked to him, as if they questioned what he believed in or why he came along on this at all, as they silently contemplated. Finally, Marek sighed, as he looked to them, as he stated, "How about this? No matter what happens down in that place… I can't bring none of that shit back to earth with us." He shook his head, as he ensured, "Can't let it happen. And I'll do whatever I have to do to see that it doesn't."

Isaac walked up to him, and held his hand out for a handshake, "Make sure that you do, Captain. And we'll do the same."

Marek took his hand, and shook on it. But then Gwen stepped up, and placed her hand on top of theirs, "Same here."

And then Jeff did as well, "I may not be going with you back there, Vickers' orders, but I'll do the same here."

Sphere floated near the hands, while everyone looked at him. Though he simply replied, as the points floated around him for a moment, as he responded, "Sorry. I'd join in but… no hands."

* * *

 **Later On**

 **SIG Suiting/Equipment Locker**

As Gwen had said her small goodbye to Jeff, which resulted in a kiss and a hug, the cousins were suiting up at the moment. But as Gwen and Isaac were getting ready to go, Kori came into the locker room in a flash of flying, with a stern and scared look on her face.

"Gwen! Isaac! This is a mistake," she pleaded with them, as she landed on her feet in front of them. "The Creator will not honor your request!"

both the cousins looked at her with a confused look on their faces, but none more confused than Gwen, as she asked, "How do you know what-"

"Sphere told me what you two discussed, and what Captain Marek agreed to," Kori answered, as she looked at Gwen with concern, "You are still recovering from having the creature removed from your body, Gwen!"

Gwen shook her head, as she replied, "We have to try, and I have to go. If we don't speak to him now, we may never get another chance to do so."

Kori looked worried, as she tried to convince them not to go, "All the Creator will do is either experiment on you or end your life!"

Gwen's face slowly turned stern and resolute, unwavering in fear. "I owe this to my aunt and uncle to see this through to the end, so that their work and this mission isn't in vain," Gwen replied, as she went for the door. "I'll meet you at the hanger Isaac." She then left the room, leaving the two behind to talk.

The Zamaranian girl looked to the Earth Boy, as he was getting ready. "Isaac, you cannot do this," Kori pleaded, sounding more desperate now that she knew that Isaac was going as well. "Neither of you will survive this meeting with the Creator!"

Isaac sighed, as he looked to her, and replied, "I don't want to, but I don't have a choice. You're right, Gwen's still recovering, and nothing I say's gonna stop her from doing this."

"Yes we do," Kori cried out. "The Creator can be left inside the chamber, and we can leave this planet and never return!"

"Nothing would give me more pleasure then doing that," Isaac stated, but sighed, as he confessed. "But Wayward is going to awaken the Creator no matter what we do, and he won't allow the ship to leave until he talks to him and convince the being to extending his own life."

Kori knew and made sense of that, but she continued to plead, "The Creator will not listen to any of us Isaac! All they will do is use us for their experiments." She held herself, rubbing her arms in trying to comfort herself, as she looked in pain from the flash of memories of what she had to endure from them, as she spoke, saddened, "… like myself."

He saw the sad look on her face and remembered what she had told him. Her past was truly something that had traumatized her to say the least, but she remained strong on it. Though now, it seemed her strength was leaving her in just dreading on what would happen. He looked at Kori, and gently put out, "I understand Kori, but Gwen is determined to see this to the end. Jeff has orders to stay on with the ship along with Marek to continue repairs and defend both ships in case either one is attacked again. That leaves me to make sure Gwen gets in and out of the ship alive along with the others."

Suddenly, without warning, Kori tackled him into the wall but they still stood on their feet, and she hugged him tight with her face on his chest. Isaac was caught off guard by this, but was more surprised to feel a wet feeling on his chest. "You cannot do this," Kori's muffled voice sobbed, as she confessed. "I will not let you or Gwen do THIS! Six years have passed while I was in the chamber the Creators put me in. It may have not felt like six years, but those years passed for everywhere else, including my home. I do not know where all my friends are now or even if they are still alive. At the moment, the only friends I know are still here are Gwen, Jeff, Rei, Sphere, and... you."

"Kori…" Isaac whispered in surprise.

She then lifted her head to reveal to a now stunned Isaac, that she was crying the whole time. "I may not have met your parents, but I know that they would not want their legacy to be the cause of death for their children," She dug her face into his chest again, as she hugged him, and sobbed in a plea, "Please... do not go… please…"

With an expression showing he was caught off guard by her words, Isaac looked at Kori as the tears continued to fall from her eyes. 'I never realized that Kori thought of us that much. Then again, we are the only ones she's met so far since being awakened...' He looked at Kori and remembered when his parents left for their mission. 'It's funny, suddenly I'm the one with the mission leaving my friends...' He gained a strong boost in his resolve as shown by his expression of determination. 'The difference is... I'm bringing Gwen and myself back alive.' He then looked ahead of him like he was looking into space, as he finally spoke up, "I'm sorry Kori, but I have to go."

Kori stopped, as her face was in terrified shock. "But it's not for my parent's legacy…" the fear on Kori's mixed to surprise, as she looked up confused by this, even though her tears were still falling. "I agree with you: the Creator won't answer anything we ask him. From what I've seen and you've told me, they're sick scientists who are controlled by their sense of curiosity to the point of losing any sort of feelings of guilt over what they're doing. But I'm still going, not because of the questions that my parents asked…" he replied, as he looked at Kori. "It's because of what you said. My parents wouldn't want their quest for answers to bring any sort of harm to Gwen or me, so I'm going to make sure that my parents can rest in peace knowing that their expedition isn't the reason we die today." He then looked at Kori with a look of determination and spoke to her with the truth in his words, "Gwen and I are going to come back from this, and then we're going to leave this cursed planet for good. That's a promise that I plan to keep." He then shrugged, as he casually replied, "And I did make a promise to get you back home to Zamaron, didn't I?"

Kori continued to look at Isaac's resolve, but still knew the dangers he and Gwen were putting themselves into. Isaac gently pushed Kori and he apart, and went for the door. Kori's head was looking down, hiding her eyes, as a neutral frown was shown upon her face. "If you are really going…" Isaac stopped, as Kori finally looked to him, with resolve in her face and in her voice, "then I shall go to insure that promise is kept because I refuse to lose anything else to the Creators."

He looked as her, but then smirked and nodded, "Thanks, Kori."

* * *

 **Weyward's Room**

At the moment, Mr. Wayward was being fitted with his own SIG suit, but with an extra feature. An exoskeletal frame for his legs, enabling him to walk without his cane. This suit would also enable his fragile body to stand on its own. He didn't have a whole lot of time; this was the last chance he would ever have. As the workers were finishing the final touches to the exo-frame, Vickers walked in, as the doors opened and closed.

Wayward looked to her direction, as he sighed, "So… you came after all."

"Thought you wanted me to," Meredith calmly debated.

"After all your attempts to stop me, I thought you would," Wayward stated, as they finished the framework. Once that was done, he walked over to the bed to sit down, taking a breather of sorts.

Vickers looked around, as she nonchalantly asked, "So where's your favorite? The canner?"

"Rei," Wayward told her, looking disappointed in Vickers' attitude. "Her name is Rei. And she's awaiting for the team in the hangar bay. We'll need her to translate to the Creator."

Vickers shook her head, as she replied, "If you're really going down there, you're going to die."

"You have a very negative way of looking at things," Wayward commented, as he took a deep breath. "That's exactly why you should have stayed at home."

She walked over to him, as she stated, "Did you really think I was gonna sit in a boardroom for years arguing over who was in charge while you go look for some miracle on some godforsaken rock in the middle of space?" she knelt down in front of him, as she placed her hands on his right hand, resting on his knees, as she cruelly stated, "A king has his reign, and then he dies. It's inevitable. That is natural order of things."

However, Wayward slowly brought his hand into a fist; his knuckles cracking, as he looked away, not wanting to see doubt or cruelty from this woman. "Maybe. Maybe so…" he replied, as he continued, "But it's my choice, nevertheless. The crew of the Prometheus and the parents of those two children are gone. I have to make up for it in some way." After a long pause, he looked to Vickers, as he asked, "Was there anything else… daughter?"

Vickers calmly but enraged answered, "No. Father. That's all." And then got up, and walked away, leaving Wayward alone with his thoughts before the journey.

* * *

 **Later On**

 **Hangar Bay**

Rei was awaiting at the RV, with her SIG suit on, minus her helmet. She was calmingly on standby awaiting for the others. But she stopped, as she saw Gwen walking to her, as she simply replied, "I didn't think you had it in you." Gwen looked at her, rather shocked, as Rei apologized, "Sorry. Poor choice of words."

"No, um… I just didn't think you would tell a joke," Gwen replied.

Rei blinked, as she simply replied, "Did I fail? I thought perhaps a little humor could lift the levity of the situation. Though I don't have the gift and magic that men like Robin Williams or Gallagher possess."

As Gwen carefully climbed up into the vehicle, Isaac and Kori appeared, as they walked up. "You think Gallagher's funny," Isaac questioned, obviously hearing the conversation.

Gwen smiled, as she climbed inside, right at her cousin, "Thanks for coming along, Isaac."

"Like I said, I'm coming along to make sure you stay alive," he chimed. Once Gwen sunk in, he turned to Rei, as he asked, "Rei… if this Creator can't deliver what Weyward wants, what's gonna happen to you if no one's around to program you anymore?"

Rei thought about it for a moment, and simply replied, "I suppose I'll be free."

Kori blinked on that, as she asked, "And do you want that?"

Rei blinked on that, as she simply stated, "'Want'? Not a concept I'm familiar with." She then looked to the two, as she asked, "That being said, doesn't everyone what their parents' dead in order to be free?"

Isaac simply asked, "I didn't."

Rei nodded, "I know. Your parents, although I have never met them… I wish I was constructed by them. They appeared to be kind people."

Kori passed them, not saying anything, as she entered the ship, while Sphere followed after. He stopped until he was next to Rei, as he pointed out, "Though freedom without purpose… that doesn't sound like much freedom in the case scenario." And then climbed up into the vehicle, leaving Rei to her thoughts.

Though she stopped, as she saw Weyward and the security team coming along with him, including Ford. Though seeing her 'father', she felt sour in her circuits, "Freedom from him would be bliss even without purpose."

* * *

 **Later On**

 **The Temple**

Once they had reached the temple, they were free to remove their helmets. Since the Xenecromorphs could only mutate the dead, the living had no problems walking about as long as there was clean air to go around. Though no one was worried about the air pollution, as the place wasn't all that bad. But what really got Isaac and the others worried was the shortcut that Rei had taken them on. It led to what appeared to be a large hall room, as they walked into it.

"The bridge is up ahead," Rei relayed, as she led the way.

But everyone was curious as to where they were, as Mr. Weyward voiced what they thought, "What is this?"

Rei looked around, "It's a cargo hold, of sorts."

Isaac stopped, as did Kori and Gwen, as he surveyed the entire place. From the roof to the floor, there were dozens of the eggs, neatly packed and ready, as he radioed back at the Prometheus, "Prometheus, you getting all of this?"

"Yeah, we're getting' all of this," Marek replied. "How many are there, Shep?"

"From the looks of things… I'd say millions," Isaac hypothesized. He looked around, as he contemplated, "What the hell?" he then radioed back to the Prometheus, as he asked, "Marek, can you get Ravel to show the finished schematics on the Bridge, and link it to my SIG communications watch?"

"Yeah, no problem," Marek answered.

Ravel did so back on the ship, as Marek ordered, "Put it on the table now." The table then lit up, making a holographic schematic of the Temple and its exterior.

Once Isaac saw it, he then asked, "Strip away the dome, isolate the area, and then bring it up."

"You heard the man," Marek stated, as Jeff walked, along with Vickers to see the dome being reshaped.

The dome was immediately pulled off, as the inside was taken away, and then enlarged. Once it was done, it began to rotate, showing the true form of the building itself. It was horseshoe-shaped, with the left end being a bit bulbous, almost as if it was shaped to be more dome shaped… like a cockpit. The back of the horseshoe seemed to have spiked ends on it, almost looking like rocket ports. It was then that everyone had a clear view of what this thing was, even to Isaac, as Gwen and Kori, along with Sphere had flown next to him.

"It's not a temple," Isaac realized, as he and the others got a good look at it.

"That's a ship," Jeff deduced as well.

Vickers was stunned to say the least, "Jesus…"

"It's a goddam ship," Marek stated as well.

* * *

 **Later On**

 **Alien Temple/Ship Bridge**

They had arrived in the same area that Isaac and Rei had first discovered the surviving Creator. Although this time, they were not alone, as Rei walked to the oversized chair, "A superior species in genetics and technology, from what we've witnessed." She then began to work the controls, "Their hypersleep chambers will impress, I trust."

As Isaac and Kori helped Gwen to the podium, Isaac managed to ask, "Rei, if this is a ship, you think they were traveling somewhere before all this?"

"I managed to work out the broad strips," Rei stated, as she began to work the controls of the cryo-chambers. "It was fairly evident they were in the process of leaving… before things went to pot."

Once Gwen was close, she asked, "Leaving? Leaving to go where?"

Rei finished the commands, as she looked to Gwen, and simply replied, "Earth."

The cousins looked in shock on this, while everyone was just meeting at the hypersleep chamber in waiting, as Rei walked up to them. But then, Isaac finally asked her, "Why?"

Rei thought about it for a moment, until she finally stated, "Sometimes to create… one must first destroy."

The cousins looked to each other, in horrified realization of what this vessel was. Everything from what they found out on this planet and with the Prometheus led to the truth: this was a death ship. "Where is he, Rei," Weyward asked.

Rei walked to the still-active stasis pod, as she knelt down to it, as it cracked open. "He should be awakening soon, sir."

"Excellent," Peter Weyward replied. "And you can speak to him?"

"I believe I can," Rei replied.

As the hypersleep chamber opened, steam shot out, as it cleared away to reveal the sleeping Creator. It did appear humanoid, pale, and bald much like the severed head found. Only this one seemed to be in a similar SIG suit much like theirs, only without the armor or the SIG life support pack. In fact, the suit seemed to be genetically clinging to him, as where his arms were the suit seemed to fuse with the skin. His eyes shot open for the first time in a long while, as its darkened corneas and irises darted around the area… to which he spotted the small Terrans before him.

He sat up, severing the tubes connecting to his suit, as he scooted onto his knees, and finally pulled his mask off. He steadied himself, as he tried to right off the fatigue from the sleep he had just taken. Finally, he looked to the blue-haired girl who knelt next to her.

Weyward waddled over to Rei, as his breathing became more ecited, as he ordered, "Speak to him, Rei. Tell him we came, just like his message told us."

Rei replied to him, "Ittei Quoinse, Braktoo quoa zeizan." The Creator looked to Rei, rather amazed that she was speaking his language, as she continued, "Yahevestade davekreda crestazten."

The Creator looked to everyone, including Isaac, Gwen, and Kori, who was slowly bringing her fists up about to charge some sunbolts. Finally, the Creator stood up, almost towering over them, as his height was now estimated to be somewhere around seven or eight feet from them. It was like a parent looking down to his children. As the creator walked out, he was still a bit dazed from the sleep, as he fell back to his knees, groaning from the muscle fatigue.

Weyward and everyone else jumped back a little from the startle, but Weyward almost lost balance. His security team managed to stabilize him, but he shooed them off, "I'm alright! I'm alright."

Finally, as the Creator stabilized himself kneeling… he spoke, " **Mavoola Deva!** " Everyone almost jumped back from his massive deep based voice. None so afraid as Ford, as she was shaking from this, stepping back, as he continued, " **Varlgroog Neknonia."**

"What did he say," Weyward asked.

Rei answered, "He asked to know why we're all here?"

"Ask him where they're from," Isaac ordered, finally gaining the courage to speak up from all of this.

Everyone looked to him, including the Creator, who seemed to understand that tidbit. But Weyward, not allowing this, asked, "Shepard, what are you doing?"

"I'm getting some answers of my own," Isaac replied, and then turned his attention to the Creator, as he asked, walking up. "That stuff in the cargo hold, what is it? It killed your crew, and mutated the crew of the Prometheus, and my parents."

"Shepard, enough," Weyward ordered.

"You made it here on this planet, and it was meant for Earth," Isaac continued. "Why?"

"Shepard, enough!" Weyward shouted, as he looked to his subordinate, who was nearby. "For God's sake, shut him up!"

Before Isaac could go on, one of the bodyguards walked up to Isaac at that time, and hit him hard with the butt of his gun into his gut. The wind was knocked out of him, as he collapsed on his knees, while Kori flew over to him, "ISAAC!" she gently helped him, as she looked to Weyward and the others, while Gwen knelt down to regain her wind from her injury, as Kori shouted, "Why did you do that?! He is one of you?"

But Isaac pushed through it, as he looked ot the Creator, who stared down at the boy rather curiously, as he asked, "Please, I just want to know why? What did Earth do wrong?! Why do you hate us so much to want us all dead?!"

Weyward had enough, as he stated, "If he or the others open their mouths again, shoot them!" He then looked to Rei, who seemed neutral, as he stated, "Rei, continue! Tell him why we came!"

Those aboard the Prometheus watched as well, including Jeff, who felt powerless that he was forced by Weyward to stay aboard the ship.

Rei seemed hesitant, but then returned to the Creator, as she said, "Nanamai. Quiva! Estam derte ta Creeva."

The Creator looked to Rei once she spoke to him, and thought silently, as Weyward seemed anxious to hear what he was going to utter next. " **Uaare nonem, eet enuminum Gukt Coorpaeth** ," the creator stated, almost as if he scoffed at the idea.

"What did he say, Rei," Weyward asked, rather anxious to hear his answer. "What did he say?"

"I told him you wanted to live forever," Rei answered. She then looked to Mr. Weyward, as she finished, "Although, he said he wanted to know why, and that he can understand English."

Weyward gently took one step forward, as he pointed to Rei, "You see this young girl? As you made us in your own image, I made her in my own as well." He then gestured to himself and to the Creator, as he stated, "You and I are superior. We are creators. We are Gods. And Gods… never die."

The Creator pondered on this for a moment, and then turned his attention back to Rei, as he studied her curiously. He then gently brought up his right hand to her head, and gently stroked her hair. She smiled, feeling this affection from this being, as he traced it down to her left arm. Before anyone noticed or could do something, the Creator grabbed her by the throat with his left hand, and lifted her off of the ground. And with his free hand, he grabbed her left arm, and quickly tore her arm off, shocking everyone, as he tossed her aside.

Weyward tried to stop him, "No!" But the Creator quickly and brutally bashed the old man to Rei, like a baseball being struck by a bat.

Isaac quickly grabbed Gwen, as they ran out, with Sphere following after them, and with him looking back to Kori, "Kori, run!"

Kori was a bit frozen, as she saw the Creator walk up to a frightened and frozen in fear Ford. He struck her hard in the chest, crushing her ribcage on her heart, as she was flown across the room and landed on the floor dead. Isaac ran up to Kori, and grabbed her wrist, pulling her away, as the kids and sphere ran out of there, as the Creator killed the other two remaining bodyguards, breaking their spines with ease. The Creator saw Isaac and the others run away, but didn't go after them. Apparently, they weren't worth the effort, as he walked to what appeared to be the controls.

At the moment, Rei, who was still functioning, scooted over, and cradled Weyward, resting his head on her lap. She gently stroked his head with her right hand, as it was the only one still attached to her. Weyward's head was sporting a rather dangerously terminal crack on his head, which was bleeding.

In his weakened state, his eyes were closed, as his SIG's vitals were quickly going from blue to yellow to red, as he spoke up, "There is… nothing…"

Rei looked down at him, and seemed sympathetic to him, as his time was running down, as she gently cradeled him. "I know," she said, in an attempt to comfort him. "Have a safe and good journey… Father."

* * *

 **Back on the Prometheus**

Everything had been shown on screen, as the remainder of the crew, namely the pilots, Marek, Jeff, and Vickers, all saw witness to it. And then finally, the beeping of Mr. Weyward's SIG went off, flat lining as well as blinking red. Peter Weyward, the man who had funded the expedition of both the Prometheus and the Falcon, was now dead. Everyone seemed to take it hard, all except Vickers.

She merely sighed, as she looked down, but picked herself up, as she walked to the main deck, "Vacate this ship; grab all the O2 scrubbers and head back to the Falcon. It's time to go home."

* * *

 **Next Chapter: Scuttle the Ships; A New Life Born of Life but of Darkness**


	11. Scuttle the Ships

**Author's Note: To the one called Guest, I do appreciate your many many many,** _ **many**_ **reviews. However, if you wish for me to answer all the questions that you have… please sign up for an account here so I can reply to you.**

* * *

 **Explorers of the Universe**

* * *

 **Chapter 10:** **Scuttle the Ships; A New Life Born of Life but of Darkness**

* * *

 **Back in the Creators' Temple/Ship**

Isaac and Kori were running back to the ship, with Gwen and Sphere with them as well. Well, more like hobbling, as Isaac was trying to help his cousin keep up with them, as Kori ran with them with Sphere flying after them. But Gwen nearly gasped in pain, clutching her abdomen, as she begged Isaac to stop, "I need to stop! Please, I need to breathe."

"Okay, hang on. We'll take a breather here for now," Isaac stated, as he stopped, with Gwen, leaning on the wall clutching her stomach in pain.

Kori flew back with them along with Sphere, as she landed next to the redhead, looking at her in concern, "Are you in pain, Gwendolyn? Is the damage from the surgery affecting you?"

Gwen's breathing was a bit labored, but she was managing, as she answered, "I was in surgery hours ago. I had an alien squid-like creature gestating in me. And I just witnessed the very being that created us… kill most of the crew, including Peter Weyward: the very man that funded this expedition." She looked at Kori in exhaustion, as she innocently stated with a weak smile, "It hasn't been easy for me these past few days."

Kori sympathetically smiled to her, knowing she was staying strong. Then Gwen turned to look to Isaac, and saw that he had a stern hard look on his face, with an arched eyebrow. She knew that he was going to berate her on what he had said earlier was right, but was too miffed off to even hear of it, as she sternly looked back at him.

"Not one word," Gwen finally said.

"Then how about two," he asked, as he tilted his head, "Told ya."

* * *

 **Back with the Creator**

The lumbering murderous giant of a being passed the corpses of the kills, ignoring Rei, as he stood outside the platform of the cryo-stasis chambers. Then suddenly, it opened up, as a peculiar large object elevated out of it. It folded out revealing it to be a mix of what appeared to be a giant telescope, and a pilot's seat. Once that happened, the Creator walked over to it, and sat down in the chair. Once it confirmed his presence, tubes seemed to seep out and connect to his arms and shoulders, and the back of the chair folded out, producing a helmet that encases his head, suiting him up for the journey for what is to come.

The temple/ship suddenly shook alive, as all the dust and soot shook off in the hallways, as Isaac and the others witnessed what was transpiring all around them at the moment. The teens felt the shaking all over, and knew that they had to bolt out of there as fast as they could. Luckily, Kori grabbed Isaac and Gwen's hands, pulling them with her as she flew, carrying them out of there, with Sphere following after them. Huge dust storms shot up after them, chasing them out, as they were racing the clock. Finally, with Kori's hair glowing bright, and with her eyes glowing bright green, she screamed out, as they saw the white light right in front of them, speeding faster and getting bigger with every second they made. Then finally, they shot of the cracked airhole side of the temple, like a bullet fired out of a gun.

They got some good distance until they skidded on the ground, rolling in the dirt, yelling out in pain from all the tumbling and skidding, until finally, they crashed differently. Gwen fell crashed on her back, holding her side, while Isaac crashed, skidding on his back. And finally, Kori crashed… or rather plowed, right into Isaac, nearly crushing him. Sphere, on the other hand, bounced out and down on the ground.

Isaac slowly recovered back into a sitting position, but saw that Kori was slowly getting up from his lap. The situation was a bit one-sided in embarrassment, as Isaac blushed under his faceplate from the position the two were in.

"Uh, you okay, Kori," he asked, as he looked to her.

Finally, she regained her line of sight, and looked to Isaac, replying with a groan, "I am alright; I am tougher than my appearance shows." The two regained their footing, as they walked over to Gwen, helping her up, as Sphere flew to them. She looked to Sphere and asked, "Is the Prometheus still here?"

Sphere nodded, "Yes, I've been in monitoring their systems. They haven't taken off… yet. Though we should…"

But the conversation was put on hold, as they heard rumbling beneath their feet. The two humans wondered if there was an earthquake coming, but they looked around, and saw underneath their feet, it was splitting open. It was folding in, nearly pulling them apart, but Kori grabbed the two, as she and Sphere flew away where it was still solid. As they landed on the ground, they saw the port opening fully, as they managed to peek at the blackened hole made out from the ground.

It was then that they paled, as they saw the alien ship beginning to warm up, about to take off.

They stepped back, as Isaac radioed the Prometheus as quickly as he could, "Prometheus? Prometheus, can you read me!"

* * *

 **Elsewhere**

 **Back on the Prometheus**

 **Bridge**

As they began to make preparations to go back to Earth, the crew stopped as a transmission was able to come through.

" _Prometheus_ ," Isaac transmitted. " _Prometheus, can you read me?! It's me, Isaac Shepard!_ "

The crew were a bit stunned to hear their voices again. But Jeff immediately responded, as he replied, "Isaac, it's Jeff! Can you read me? Is everyone alright; is Gwen with you?"

"Yeah, we can hear you. Gwen, Kori, Sphere, and I were the only ones that got out," Isaac replied, as he sighed. "We've got a situation out here! This ship's about to take off!"

The crew looked to one another, as Vickers walked up, asking, "What is he talking about? Take off where?"

"Earth," Isaac replied. "We can't leave! We have to stop it from leaving!"

However, Vickers simply replied back to him, not caring on what was about to happen, "We're not stopping anything, Shepard. We're going home."

"Dammit, Vickers! If we don't stop this ship, there's got gonna be a home, let alone a planet, to go back to," Isaac shouted. He huffed, as he managed to speak up again, as the girls and Sphere looked to him, as he finished, "Marek. That ship… it's carrying _death_ … and its destination is Earth. It always has been."

Marek replied, "Mr. Shepard, neither the Prometheus nor Falcon are warship models. We don't have any weapons…"

"I know, Marek. I know," Isaac interrupted. "I know. But we have to find some way to stop it."

"There's nothing to stop, Mr. Shepard," Vickers stated. "We're going home."

"DAMMIT, VICKERS!" Isaac shouted back.

But Vickers cut the link, as he tried to get back on, "Prometheus? Prometheus, do you copy? Shit, she cut me off!"

Gwen checked her link, "She cut mine too!"

"Why is she doing this," Kori asked. "Does she not know that her world is doomed?"

The teens looked outside, as the Creator's vessel was slowly coming out, attempting to break free of the land it had been stuck on for some time. The giant black obelisk of a ship nearly blotted out the light for the four, as they looked at it, slowly ascending upward. They knew that if the ship left the atmosphere, it would be over for Earth. Vickers wasn't gonna do it; she wanted to turn tail and run, and they were right, neither the Prometheus nor the Falcon were warships; they were built strictly for exploration. All in all, it seemed hopeless as the ship fully started to ascend out of the hole, and headed skyward.

All the teens and the remaining crew of the Prometheus could do was look up as the ship was about to leave.

Isaac clenched his teeth, as Gwen gently squeezed her cousin's hand and shoulder in fear, as they looked upward to the black ominous ship, "Isaac, we have to do something."

"I don't think there's anything we can do," Isaac sighed in defeat. "Even if we got to the Falcon, we don't have any weapons on it. Either way, Earth's done the minute that thing leaves."

As the cousins realized there was no hope anymore, Kori looked to them, seeing that they were close to giving up. She then looked back at the Creator ship leaving and with nothing to stop it, almost mocking everyone who witnessed its escape. But at that moment, her eyes glowed even brighter, as she spoke with sudden ice-cold fury in both her eyes, and her voice, "No, it will not leave!"

She suddenly took off the ground, gusting up some wind that nearly blew the cousins off the ground, but caused Sphere to spin around for a moment. She flew up in high speed to intercept the giant vessel, as Isaac managed to speak via com link, "Kori! What are you doing?!"

"I will not allow it to leave this world," Kori replied. But before Isaac could argue or question on how she would do it, she explained to him, "I do not know what has become of my world in the past 6 years of my imprisonment and experimentation. I do not know if it has been conquered or destroyed. I will not allow it to happen to any other planet too. I will not let your world die, Isaac!"

She took off towards the ship, attempting to intercept it, as she was coming right at its rear in high speed. She flew around it, as she was flying up quickly to get to a higher altitude to it. Once she was above it, she took a nosedive down upon it, shooting sunbolts at it. However, they didn't scratch the surface, but merely scuffed it up as much as possible. But then she flew faster at it, as she screamed out, and collided with the center of the ship. Once she connected to it, she was pushign it, using her right side of her body, as she screamed out and groaned to push it back to the planet.

Much to everyone's shock at seeing what was going on, they saw she was succeeding, as the ship was slowly inch by inch, being pushed back on the planet. The Creator within the ship saw this, as the ship's cameras zoomed in, spotting the Zamaranian girl, using her flight and strength to push the ship back. The Creator worked at the controls, preparing something… but a hand shot out, using strength equal to his to keep from finishing it.

The creator turned, and saw the blue-haired girl, Rei, managing to pull his hand back, minus her missing arm.

* * *

 **Back on the Prometheus' Bridge**

Marek was watching the whole scene in front of him, as was Jeff, Chance, and Revel. These kids were doing all that they could to stop this being, and all they were doing was just sitting and watching this whole thing. At that moment, the promise that he and the others made back in that room echoed in his ears. The promise was that no matter what, no one was going to let any of that stuff on that ship come close to Earth. And that they would do anything to stop it.

However, Miss Vickers wasn't all that impressed what was going on. She seemed more dead set on getting out of there, as she ordered, "I ordered you to get the ship moving. We're going home."

*cxz

However, Marek was working fast on the controls quickly, "Mr. Ravel, warm up the ion propulsion."

Everyone seemed surprised by that, as Jeff asked, "What?"

"What the hell are you talkinga bout," Vickers asked, not liking the sound of that.

Ravel made the order clear on the consequence, "Sir, burning the ion in the inner atmosphere…"

"… turns the Prometheus into a bullet, I know," Marek stated. "But that is exactly the point." He then continued to work on the console, all the while ignoring the bossy Vickers, as she ranted on.

"What the hell are you doing," she asked, as Vickers continued to order them with no luck of them following. "Marek, this and the Falcon are the sole property of Weyward Industries. In short, either one of them is my ship. And I'm ordering you to take us home!"

"Those kids are right about one thing, Vickers: if we don't stop that beast from flying, there ain't gonna be a home to go back to," Marek replied, as he looked at her. "So what good is inheriting a multi-billion corporation if the planet it's on is dead?" Vickers was a bit frozen in that, defeated in the argument as she was silent in shock. Marek went back on the controls, as he stated, "I'm gonna eject the life support module onto that surface. That's five years of life: you want it, or you wanna stay here with us." He then readied the controls, as he finished, "You've got 2 minutes to get to the escape pods."

Finally Vickers spoke up, as she backed away, "You're all crazy… all of you!" And then bolted out of there, as she ditched them for the pod and the module all together.

Marek then turned to Jeff, as he spoke up, "There's more than one escape pod. I suggest you take it."

Jeff looked to him, blinking, as he shook his head, "No, I'm not leaving you behind."

Marek turned to his son, as he stated the obviousness of what would happen, "Jeff, we both know that this mission is far from over. Shepard and the others are gonna need a soldier to help get them through this." He then gently patted his son on the shoulder, as he stated, "Go take one of the other escape pods, find Shepard and the others, and make sure that when you get off planet, nuke it so that anything left over never finds its way back to Earth."

Jeff looked at his father, almost pleading, but knew what he said was true. He nodded, his face hardening with determination, as he sped out of there, following Vickers to the escape pods.

Knowing his son would be safe, he went back to the controls, as he stated, "Gentlemen, I can handle this myself. Feel free to join Miss Vickers and my son out of here."

The two co-pilots looked to one another, and nodded, as Ravel stated, "With all due respect, captain, you're a shit pilot and you're gonna need all the help you can get."

Marek nodded, as he went back to the controls. The main engines began to roar again, for the first time in two years. The Prometheus was sluggishly awakening, leaving the dirt of the planet as its ion engines roared back to life. The propulsion of the engines began to lift the ship off the ground, as it was preparing to go after the alien ship.

Marek slung on a cap, as he was gearing up to do what needed to be done. As a way to alleviate any doubts on this, he hardened his resolve and calmed his nerves, as he sung, "Well, if you can be~ with the one you love, love the one you with~"

Chance chuckled at the situation, as he looked to his friend, "Guess this means the bet's off!"

Ravel chuckled at his friend, as he stated, "Ah, why don't you pay me on the Other Side."

"Alright, fellahs, let's do this," Marek spoke out, as he prepared to finish the last of the coordinates. "We've only got one shot at this; Miss And'rz is givin' us a good head start, so let's not waste it."

* * *

 **Escape Pod Bay**

Jeff ran as fast as he could, pressing the switch on the cuff of his left glove. Immediately, his Military SIG suit fully folded out, suiting him up, as the helmet completed over his head, and he bolted out of there. He passed Vickers, who was doing her best on the slowly awakening ship, heading to the first escape pod. He slipped in, pressed on the controls, and was shot out of there as fast as he could. Vickers rushed to get her clothing off and to get her SIG suit on.

* * *

 **Outside**

The Prometheus was taking off as quickly as it could, while the Creator vessel was fighting with Kori, as her attempts to push the vessel back down were beginning to strain upon her. As the Prometheus was charging up for the Ion Drive, the lifeboat atop the ship ejected, flying away from both ships, as it soared on towards the planet. As it did, it skidded on the stalagmite ground, damaging it in a bit but not destroying it.

Back on the Prometheus, Vickers had finished getting out of the SIG suiting chamber, equipped with a White SIG, as she headed for the Escape Pod. All the while she did, the ship's main computers were warning of the eventual impact.

TWENTY SECONDS TO EVACUATE

Back on the Bridge, Ravel activated the countdown activation of the Ion Drive, "Countdown Initiated."

At the moment, Marek reopened a com link to Kori, "Miss And'rz, you might wanna pull away and rejoin those back on the planet."

Kori strained, keeping the Creator from breaking the atmosphere, as she responded, "GGRNNNG! I cannot! If I leave, then it will…"

"I know," Marek replied. "But I wouldn't want ya ta get caught in the explosion."

Kori blinked at this, unable to ask, but then spotted the Prometheus heading right towards them. She realized that they were attempting to scuttle the Prometheus to stop the ship from leaving, as she attempted to stop them, "No! Captain Marek, please do not do this!"

However, Marek closed the coms again, as they continued going forward on their kamikaze mission. Vickers had managed to get to the lifepods, as she jettisoned out of there. Her pod soared downward, lightly crashing, but not thrown about like the Life Boat. Isaac was watching the scene, as Gwen was leaning on a rock as she watched as well, with Sphere by Isaac's side, as they witnessed the Prometheus's Ion Drive activate. The engines shot out a burst of speed, shooting the Prometheus right at the alien vessel. Jeff was running towards the others, when he saw the ship being shot right at the alien ship like a bullet, much like the idea that Ravel had warned Marek what would happen if such a thing had been done.

As the Prometheus rocketed right at the alien ship, Kori saw this. Immediately, she flew away from the ship, passing the Prometheus in a green blur like a falling star hitting the planet. Marek looked back at the view in front of them, as he and the others ignored the red blares and Warnings flashing.

"HEADS UP, EVERYONE!" Marek shouted, as he and his men braced for impact. He then looked at the approaching ship, he shouted, "HEY, CREATORS! UP YOURS!"

Both ships suddenly collided with one another, with the Prometheus taking the most damage of the impact. But the impact was all it needed, as the ion engines suddenly exploded, creating a massive nuclear explosion in the air above everyone. The skies were all ablaze, as if a sun had just exploded. Once the light died down, they saw the Creator ship, falling downward back to the planet's surface… right at the two cousins and floating orb. However, a green flash flew right at them, grabbing and flying as fast as they could, as Kori made sure her friends were in safe distance from the ship, as it crashed back on the surface. It didn't explode as it hit the ground, but more like plowed its way through, making dirt and dust fly around as it was still coming right at them, until it finally died down, stopping a mile from them.

The three as well as Sphere managed to recover from the dust storm kicked up by the now-downed ship, as Kori was helping a still recovering Isaac from the crash impact.

Looking concerned on her face hidden by the mask of her SIG suit, she asked Isaac, "Are you all right, Isaac? You are undamaged?"

Isaac managed to stand a little, as he replied, "Yeah. I'm-"

However, he was suddenly kicked hard in the back sending him back to the ground face first. He lifted himself onto his knees and turned around to see Vickers with a gun and a crazed and panicked look on her face which was displayed behind the glass mask of her helmet.

She was waving her gun around while directing her rage at Isaac, Kori, and Gwen, as she screamed out, "GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! Now look at what you've done to us! Thanks to you and your crazy damn parents, we're stranded on this hell of a planet with no way off! YOU'VE DOOMED US ALL YOU!"

"Vickers! I think you're forgetting that we stopped the Creators ship from attacking Earth," Gwen said, as she tried to reason with the crazed business woman, "All we have to do now-"

However, Vickers wouldn't listen to any of it, as she pointed the gun at Gwen to silence her, "And WHAT?! The Ishimura is up in orbit and we have no way of getting up there! Even if we do find a way, there hasn't been a communication from Earth in two days! TWO DAMN DAYS! In case you don't know, that means that Earth thinks we're dead! That's it! No one is coming to save people who are presumed dead! It's all because of alien nuisances that you just had to try and make friends with! You all had to rely on the Shepards' insane theories instead of the common sense I was saying the whole time in which we leave this rock! But NO!"

Gwen raised her hands in a surrendering fashion, as she tried to reason with her, "Miss Vickers, please calm down. All we need to do-"

But didn't go far in negotiations, as Vickers shot her gun at Gwen's feet to silence her. "Don't you get it you idiot! We all DEAD! That's it! We threw our lives away for this idiotic voyage and all we found was alien nuisances," she screamed out, as she pointed her gun at Kori, who was confused and stunned by the usually calm Vickers crazy behavior. "The only damn good thing is that we don't have to deal with any more aliens! Right after this!"

Isaac saw this and jumped in front of Kori, "NO!" he shouted, as his eyes tightened for the incoming shot.

Both Gwen and Kori saw this action with terrified expressions on their faces, as they both screamed out, "ISAAC!"

A gun shot was heard as everyone stood still as statues. Isaac opened his eyes to see a stunned Vickers still pointing the gun at them… but had blood oozing out of a huge hole on the side of her head, shattering her helmet in the process. She collapsed to the ground as her blood spilt on the ground. The others turned to see Jeff, holding a rifle with smoke coming out of the hole.

He walked forward as he stopped to see Vickers' dead body, and pointed, "Watch out for the quiet ones."

Isaac nodded, as he replied, "I'll remember that next time."

Gwen suddenly ran into his arms, making Jeff drop the gun, as she sobbed, "You're safe. I... I thought I lost you..."

Jeff held her in his arms, "I'm not going anywhere Gwen. Marek had me use the last pod to escape." He looked around at the group, until he asked, "So, what now?"

WARNING. YOU HAVE ONLY FIVE MINUTES OF OXYGEN LEFT. PLEASE REPLENISH.

Their SIG suit computers spoke up, getting their attention, as Isaac, who was next to Kori and Sphere, as he stated, "Head to the lifeboat, and replenish some air. Once we're done there, we'll think of what else to do."

* * *

 **Later On**

 **Lifeboat**

They boarded the lifeboat, as soon as they got to it. However, when they got in there, the place was in shambles due to the crash. The screens were cracked and displaying different programs. Papers and glasses were scattered all around the place, with the glass of the glasses shattered and scattered all around, as they stepped in, crunching the glass under their feet. They reached a refilling station within the place, as they hooked their packs to the O2 refillers, and just waited.

Gwen, feeling a bit uneasy about what had transpired, spoke up, "What if we can't reach the Ishimura even with the Falcon helping us? The ship's systems are at 75% completion, but not enough for a full trip back to Earth. And I doubt we'll get much help from the Ishimura on the other side of Aegis VII."

Kori blinked at that, as she asked, "But why would they not know? Do they not know that the Falcon traveled with them?"

"Oh, they know that we followed," Jeff stated, as he examined his rifle. "For all they know, they think we're here taking planet core samples or something. They have no clue about the Prometheus rescue mission."

Isaac got up, as he walked over to the sealed room to where the Med-pod was, as he leaned on the door, as he groaned, "I can't really see how any of this could get any worse than it already has…"

CRASH!

Isaac jumped back, as did everyone else, as they all saw what had made that sound. In the sealed-up room, was a giant five armed starfish-shaped creature, colored gray, green and light gray. Its tentacle-like arms swished around the door, almost wanting to get out of there. The teens all stared in shock, as Sphere spoke up at Gwen, "It would seem that your child survived the sterilization… and apparently grew up since last we saw it."

Gwen wasn't able to say anything, or try to respond anything, until Isaac joked, "Mozeltoff, it's a boy…"

Gwen glared at him, and was about to punch her cousin, when a transmission came through, " _Isaac. Gwendolyn. Anyone? Is anyone still alive?_ "

Recognizing the voice, Isaac responded, "Rei? Rei, is that you? Man, it's good to hear from you again."

" _As much as I would love to reciprocate the sentiment, I'm afraid such things must be put on hold_ ," she replied. " _You need to get out of there immediately, and arm yourselves. He's coming._ "

"He? Who's he," Isaac asked, as the others seemed confused by this. But then it seemed to click in their heads, as they looked to each other, as Isaac groaned, "Uh no…"

At that moment, the alarms went off, as something busted or forced the doors open, as they all turned to it, and saw what it was. It was the Creator survivor, but half of its face was burnt, and he was pretty hurt. Though he was still able to move around and seem to make their way to the lifeboat. The Creator looked at all the surviving teenagers and the sphere floating in the air, but turned his attention at Isaac, as he was slowly inching away to the sealed med pod door. It glared right at him, as he finally forced the door open, and charged for the boy.

Jeff, loaded a full round at the giant, but it didn't faze him, as he just ran up, and swatted Jeff away. He crashed into the bar, as he slumped ot the ground, struggling to get back up in time. Kori flew right at him, unleashing barrages of sunbolts at him, however, he didn't seem fazed either by this. He grabbed Kori by the throat, and attempted to choke the life out of her. She gasped and gagged, as her air passage was slowly being crushed; her eyes were wide open, as the fear of this was slowly coming upon her.

At the moment, Isaac and Gwen were trying to get the door open, but Isaac spotted the creator choking Kori. He looked to his cousin and stated, "Keep at the door. Kori's in trouble!" and then bolted after the Creator.

Gwen looked to Sphere, and asked, "Can you hack into the security system?"

"Give me five seconds," he stated, as suddenly, he phased through the technology, bringing it back to life.

Isaac ran at the Creator, and jumped at him, grabbing the beast's head in a hold, as he tried to choke him as well. The Creator dropped Kori, as she gasped for air, coughing it out, as she weakingly looked at the scene before her. The Creator managed to grab Isaac and throw him at the door to which Gwen and Sphere were opening… which led to the Med Pod. The Creator charged at him, until Gwen shouted, "GO!"

Isaac dodged out of the way, as the door chimed open… and out came the five-tentacle star creature, as it immediately attacked the stunned Creator. It wrapped two of its tentacles around an arm and a leg, and began to roar out, thrashing the Creator around the place. It slammed him into the roof, and then into the ground, until finally it tossed him on the ground. The Creator spat out blood, its arm and leg broken with bone protruding outward. The creature crawled its way above the Creator, as he tried to crawl away from it, but it was too late, as what appeared to be a five-flapped mouth opened, up, showing a tentacle stinger of sorts. The creator roared out in fear and pain, or defiance, until it shot right into its mouth, silencing him. The tentacle then started to pump something in him, causing the Creator to gargle and choke on it, as it lifted the being up on the ground suspending him in the air, as it continued pumping a load into it, as everyone looked to see this in fear. The Creator's body began to turn black slowly, as fear enveloped its eyes, until it finally went black. Afterwards, his body went numb and limp, as the creature pulled away, allowing it to fall back on the ground. Once that happened, the creature was shattered into dust and ash, blowing in the wind of the ship's air conditioning and filters.

Before anyone could act or say something to get out of there, the creature suddenly started to spasm and warble. It was almost as if its solid shape was becoming liquid of sorts, as it started to shrink and take on a new shape, as it morphed into a blob now. Once it was done, it was tightening and taking more shape, as it finally finished, revealing everyone the lifeform's new form.

It had taken the shape of a sixteen year old male, colored dark grey, with light gray as its main body, and had green circuitry patterns all over its body. It had short spikey green hair that spiked forward, dark gray squares in the shape and place of ears, a light gray face plate resembling that of a human, and green fingers and toes. It stood up, revealing its toned slim body, as it began to morph again, this time clothing. He… or it… was now dressed in dark gray pants and boots, with green circuitry on them, as well as for a belt, dark gray shoulder guards with green circuitry lining, dark gray gloves that went from its elbows to hands, but exposed its green fingers, and a dark gray shirt that had an opening to expose his chest of sorts, but that was possibly due to a pattern.

Finally, its eyes opened to reveal them to be totally black, but a small green dot grew in there, making it the iris and pupil. Finally, it moved around, looking at its environment… and the occupants that he had saved from the Creator.

It then stretched out a little, as it then looked towards Gwen, Isaac, Jeff, a recovering Kori being held by Isaac, and Sphere, who floated around the new humanoid creature. Finally, it… he spoke to them, "I'm sorry. That was... odd. This isn't the kind of first impression I wanted to make before all of you."

Isaac nodded, as he walked over, "Considering the fact that you saved us from the Creator, I'd say it's one way. Thanks for that."

The new lifeform looked at him, and smiled as he nodded to him.

But a much recovered Kori stepped in front of the two, or rather between them, as a way of protecting Isaac, as she advised, "I do not believe it is wise to get close to him at this time."

Jeff had his gun at the ready, as he finally reloaded it, "I'm with Kori on that one, Shepard."

"Wait a minute," Isaac stated, as he spoke on the creature's behalf. "He and Gwen just saved us from the Creator! He deserves the chance to say what he wants to say."

"I agree with you Isaac," Kori stated, but then glared at the humanoid. "But he used the same substance the Creators made. That means he is one of their creations as well."

"Not only that, but he tried to burst out of Gwen's stomach earlier today," Jeff stated, as he sharply turned to Isaac, "…or did you forget that?"

"About that," the mechanical humanoid stated, as he turned to Gwen, showing an apologetic look on his face and in his voice. "I'm sorry about hurting you like that. I had no idea that I was inside someone at the time. All I knew was that I had to get out of the dark place I was trapped in. I assure you all that I mean no harm to any of you."

Gwen looked surprised by the response. 'Incredible, he shows regret for his actions and actually means it.'

He then nodded, as he thanked her, "Also thank you. I am alive right now thanks to your body providing me with the nutrients and protection I needed to ensure my birth was a successful. I understand though if you are angry due to my previous actions though."

Jeff raised an eyebrow, as he asked, "Aside from our new guest's raise in intelligence, am I the only one noticing that he sounds and looks a lot like Gwen if she was a boy?"

"He must have copied some aspects of my DNA while inside me. Similar to how a child has the genetic make-up of two different people. That's why he bears a resemblance to me," Gwen theorized, as she took a step forward, as Jeff moved into position to make sure the Alien didn't pull any crazy stunts on her. "How is it you can understand us or speak English now? You should be in the infant stages at this point."

"After I recovered from the sterilization that was attempted to kill me, I woke up, and discovered that I was locked in the room," the humanoid explained, whilst looking to Gwen. "Using the computer in the room, after I had merged with it, I learned all everything the ship new, the crew, the mission." He then looked at everyone, and then pointed to Sphere and Kori, "All of you except for that metal sphere that's been floating around, and only small bits about Kori." He then looked at his hands with a confused look on his face. "As for why I'm at this stage of my development... I believe that I'm a techno-organic lifeform. I was made possible by the black ooze that Gwendolyn was infected by and permeated the placenta with using a mix of her DNA and an accidental mix of the SIG's nanotechnology that makes up the fabric of your suits. The mixture of Gwen's DNA and the Creators' techno organic slime seems to have caused me to gain features of Gwen rather than replicate her. In a way, I've become something brand new."

"Unbelievable," Gwen could only respond in a whisper.

Jeff finally huffed out, as he put down the rifle, "I don't know about all of you, but I've had my fill anything the Creators made in that mad lab of theirs."

Isaac groaned, as he looked to him, and pointed at the creature, "He just took down the Creator that was trying to kill us Jeff. I'd say he's not one of theirs."

"He has the same black slime that pretty much turned this planet to what it is now!" Jeff retaliated, as he turned angrily at the creature. "How do we know he won't turn on us and become the same thing that Fifield became?"

The alien looked at them with an arched eyebrow, as he asked, "You think I'm one of the Creators' experiments?"

Isaac raised an eyebrow, as he asked, "You're not?"

"I am not one of them, I am not Gwen," the creature explained. "As it was said in the Book of Moses: I am... that I am."

Jeff arched an eyebrow, as he seemed annoyed by all the poetic stuff, as he asked, "Okay, so you're not one of the garden variety experiments. But how do we know you won't turn on us because of the slime inside you?"

"I may have the Creators' as you call them slime inside me, but I'm not one of their creations," the alien explained. "Their creatures are on the side of death and destruction. I'm on the side of life."

Kori then got serious, as she interrogated, "If you are on the side of life, than you should not have any problems answering some questions."

"All right," he nodded.

"What is your name?"

The new alien pondered on that, tapping his chin, until he finally answered, "Well, when I scanned through the database, the first three letters I was interested in was D, R, and U. So you can call me DRU."

"If the Creators were now or ever in control of you, how would you know?"

DRU shrugged, "I'm not really sure. I don't know what it means to have free will or feelings. Maybe what I'm feeling is an illusion. But these feelings I have right now, these thoughts, they are mine, and they feel... right. Perhaps... I would know if I was being controlled if I felt something else, something wrong or out of place."

Kori crossed her arm, as she then grew serious, and finally asked, "If you saw an injured animal on the ground with no chance of surviving, what would you do?"

Jeff leaned over to Isaac, as he asked in whispers, "Seriously? This is going to help us prove if we can trust this guy?"

"Either if he's a serial killer or a carnivore if he says he'd eat it," Isaac joked. But he noticed the serious looks he was getting, minus Kori and DRU, as he finally answered, "Okay, so it's not the kind of interrogation you would see on a police show, but at least she's trying by using honest questions."

"Besides, it's not like she can just flat out ask if he's evil or not," Gwen whispered to them both.

DRU thought about it for a second, until he finally answered, "If the creature's parents were nowhere near, I would tend to its wound until it recovered, and return it to its natural habitat. But… if there was no way to save it from its injuries, I would stay by its side until it passed on in peace, then bury its body as it would become nutrients for the soil to grow new life. Does that satisfy as an answer?"

Before Kori could answer, their com links went off, as Rei spoke again, " _Come in Isaac. Jeff... Gwen... Kori... Can anyone read me?_ "

Immediately, Isaac replied, "Rei! Yes we're all here and we read you over."

Rei, amazingly sounded relieved to hear his voice, " _Isaac. Thank goodness. I was afraid you all didn't make it when the ship crashed._ "

Gwen had silent anger in her voice, as she replied, "After what we've been through, I don't know what afraid means anymore."

" _I'm glad everyone is all right, but I must ask for some assistance please_ ," Rei replied. " _I'm afraid that my arm is still across the room and I can't work my legs due to heavy damage._ "

"Understood, Rei," Isaac replied. "Where are you?"

" _I'm still in the main navigation room in the Creators' ship. Where we found the map before._ "

Isaac nodded, "Understood. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"I will go with you," Kori volunteered. "You may need assistance in bringing Rei here, and in case there are any other dangers still on the ship."

Isaac smiled, as he nodded, "Thanks Kori."

"Hold on, Isaac," Gwen stated, not liking this idea. "After everything she's done to us. All the secrets she's kept, her mission, Weyward being on the ship, and leaving us to become ooze test subjects. How can you help her after all that?!"

"I'm with Gwen on this one, Shepard," Jeff argued. "How can we possibly trust her after all that?"

Sensing an argument was upon them, Kori politely became tie breaker, as she stated, "But if not for the assistance of Rei, Gwen might have been hurt badly by a still young DRU. Plus she did save her from Vickers when she wanted to put Gwen in hypersleep to preserve DRU inside her."

"She's right," Isaac stated. "Plus, Rei has the activation codes in order to activate and operate the Falcon and a copy of the Creators' maps from before. We need her help in order to get off the planet and find our way through the universe." He then went back on the com links, as he asked, "Rei, you still have the codes and map right?"

" _Yes_ ," Rei answered. " _Thankfully I kept a copy of both on me in case the original on the Prometheus was lost_."

"Damn it, he's right about that part," Jeff cursed under his breath, but then remembered, "But we don't have enough scrubbers for a trip back to Earth with all five of us."

"Plus, we don't know of any other planets that are within traveling distance that have the same breathable atmosphere as Earth," Gwen replied.

" _Nor do I_ ," Rei agreed, but then suggested, " _But there may be extra scrubbers on the Ishimura we can use along with other supplies_."

Gwen suddenly lit up, as she nearly smacked her forehead, "The Ishimura! With all that's happened, it slipped my mind that it's here."

Jeff grumbled, realizing the situation, "A lot of good that's going to do when it comes to space travel though."

Kori blinked, as she was once again, out of the loop, and asked, "I am sorry, but the what?"

Sphere looked over to her, and replied, "It's the ship that Isaac and the others used when they came to Aegis 7 to search for the crew of the Prometheus."

"Then it looks like we have our objectives," Isaac stated, as he formulated the plan on what to do next. "Jeff, Gwen, Sphere, and DRU can go to the wreckage of the Prometheus to gather what they can for the Falcon. Kori and I will go retrieve Rei and meet you all back at the ship."

It was at that moment that DRU stepped up, "Actually, I'd like to go with you, Isaac. I may be able to help with Rei 8's repairs while the others scavenge the Prometheus."

" _I'm not sure who that is, but I will be in need of repairs before I can access the map and codes for the ship_ ," Rei replied.

Isaac thought about it and nodded, "Change of plans then. DRU, Kori, and I will go retrieve Rei, and the others can look for supplies on the Ishimura."

Gwen pulled Isaac over with her and Jeff and whispered, "Isaac, are you sure you want to be alone with Rei and DRU? After everything that's happened?" Jeff nodded silently in agreement with her.

Isaac looked over at Gwen, as he stated, "Rei put herself on the line for you before, Gwen. And DRU is almost a new version of you. It's almost as if you're saying you can't trust yourself, much less your own son."

Gwen blushed, as she frowned, "It's not the same thing in having a child, Isaac."

"I believe we can trust DRU and give Rei the benefit of the doubt that she is on our side," Isaac stated, sounding rather determined in believing in them. He then grabbed his SIG pack, and hooked it up, as he and Kori suited up, as he looked to DRU, "C'mon, man. Let's go."

DRU followed after them, but Kori stopped, "Wait. Do you not require a suit?"

DRU shook his head, "No. I may have lungs, but they don't function on a human organic level. They filter energy out of the atmosphere, whether it is breathable or not." And then headed for the airlock.

The two looked to each other, as they shrugged, and headed out after him.

* * *

 **Next Chapter: Ghost Colony and Ship; Night of the Ishimura pt.1**


	12. Night of the Ishimura pt1

**Explorers of the Universe**

* * *

 **Chapter 11: Ghost Colony and Ship; Night of the Ishimura pt.1**

* * *

 **Back Aboard the Creator Vessel**

 **Main Nav/Cockpit Chamber**

Rei was sitting upon the wall, as she waited for the others to come pick her up. Her arm was still severed, but in the time being, she had retrieved it, and had it on her lap. The left side of her face was a bit scruffed up for some reason, and it was not due to the crash. Apparently when she tried to wrestle the Creator away from the controls, he smashed her away on the face, sending her crashing into the wall. It was after when the ship crashed, the Creator did another punch across her face, scuffing her up in the process. Now she was awaiting for either one of the survivors to come for her… or to destroy her, as it was evident now that they didn't trust her anymore.

And why would they? She was programmed by her 'father', and they didn't trust him because of what he was after. Rei closed her eyes, as she accepted the obviousness of her fate. "Lonely…" she whispered, as she allowed darkness and silence to be her norm, "… it's so lonely…"

"Rei!"

Her eyes opened wide, as she looked from the wreckage of the room, and saw a sight she didn't expect. Isaac was making his way towards her, accompanied by Kori and a strange silver and green being. Once Isaac got to her first, he knelt down, and gently placed a hand on her shoulder, as his helmet retracted, and asked, "Hey, you alright? Sorry it took so long, but I had to convince my cousin you were worth getting over here." But he blinked as he saw what was happening.

Rei looked at him, stunned, and surprisingly… was crying, as a few tears streamed out.

Isaac seemed confused by this, as he asked, "Rei? You alright? I thought you couldn't feel any pain. I mean, if the severed arm hurts that much…"

Kori flew over and saw it as well, as she looked at her in concern, as she knelt down, "Rei, it is so good to... Rei? What is the matter? Why are your optics leaking as so?"

Rei realized it as well, as she wiped her face off, and looked at the remnants of tears on her hand guards. She then looked to them, and simply returned to normal in appearance, as she responded, "It's nothing. I was simply cleaning my optics. It's a normal function."

The two blinked at that, unsure if what she had just told them was the truth or not. But DRU merely stood by, as he watched the scene, and softly smiled at the three, "Unpredictable."

* * *

 **Later On**

 **Lifeboat**

After the three had arrived back with Rei in tow, DRU took her to what was left of the Med Pod bay area. Currently, Rei was sitting on the table to what was left of the Med Pod… after DRU had disassembled and absorbed it. She had her SIG suit retracted and her top off, exposing her upper body. DRU was with her, while his right arm had morphed into what appeared to be a techno-organic ring assembly system around her left shoulder. Small tentacle or spider-like tool arms were making the necessary repairs while holding her left arm in place, setting up the systems, as the spider legs held or brought the arm close back to the shoulder socket.

It seemed much to the discovery of the others that DRU had metamorphic and polymetic abilities. Meaning he could imitate anything he scanned, saw or sampled by physical absorption or contact. Though if he could imitate a human or other lifeform, that was a bigger question yet to be asked.

Gwen was there supervising on Rei's vital systems, making sure that there were no other complications. At first she was hesitant in wanting to help, but her cousin just had to insist on helping the girl. So far, things seemed pretty good on the repairs, as DRU was almost finished attaching the arm. Once the wound was sealed, leaving a scar that was shown connecting the arm to the shoulder.

DRU retracted the rings around her arm, as his own reformed back, returning to normal. He put his hands on his hips, as he nodded, "Arm is reattached, and servos and circuits have been repaired."

Gwen walked over with a screen in front of her, showing the schematics of the now repaired arm, as she asked, "Okay, Rei. Can you move it?"

Rei lifted her arm up, and around, and then curled the hand to herself, as she flexed her fingers and made a fist, as well as other movements to ensure her hand and arm were in working condition. Once she was done, she set it down, as she nodded, "Repairs were successful; I am in complete control of my left appendage."

DRU then morphed his hands into a sort of smoothing apparatus, as he walked towards Rei again, "Now all that's left is to clear away the scarring hand…"

However, before he was about to do it, Rei spoke up, "If you could. May you leave the scar?"

The two seemed to blink on that request, especially Gwen as it seemed rather unheard of, even from an android. DRU was just more confused on this, as he asked, "May I ask why? It would seem rather pointless if you had it; the repairs to your arm are successful. I doubt you wish to see such a blemish on your body."

Gwen shook her head at DRU's bluntness, as she inquired herself, "I think what he means is why you would want to keep the scar, Rei?"

Rei reached up and gently traced her hand on the scar itself, as she seemed rather happy about it, "I guess… in a way, it makes me more human. Which was what my father attempted to do when he first constructed me. Despite the fact he wished to create an immortal being, I feel like this will help me fit in."

DRU seemed to keep that in mind, while Gwen seemed to take that in a bit, "Rei…" But she shook it off, as Rei hopped off the table, and got dressed, as she and DRU were about to leave, "Once you get suited up, we've got a make a plan on what to do next."

Rei zipped up her collar, as she followed, "Understood."

Once the three exited, they walked over to where Jeff, Isaac, Kori, and Sphere were currently, sitting at Vickers' desk. Once they were all together, Sphere displayed a holographic model of the Falcon, as the plan of action started.

"Alright, everyone. We need to discuss the plan," Isaac stated, as he went over the situation and the solution to their problem. "The Prometheus is gone, and we're all that's left of the Falcon's crew, including the add-on three members here," he said, as he pointed to Kori, DRU, and Sphere. "Now we know that the Ishimura is currently orbiting the other side of the planet, setting up a colony to 'pop the cork' on Aegis 7. It'll take a week for the standard planet-cracking procedure to commence and finish."

"Which means we need to get over there before they leave," Jeff concluded. He then looked to Rei, and asked, "How long do you think it would take to fix the Falcon? Getting her flight ready?"

"Breaking planet atmosphere: impossible without the right tools, repairs, or the necessary engineers to repair the systems," Rei answered. "Although that will require equipment we currently don't have, and it is very doubtful that parts from the Prometheus will still be useable after the explosion." The three human teens seemed to sigh in defeat, but Rei then pointed, "However, I do believe that we can make the Falcon flyable again to reach the colony set up by the Ishimura."

"Great, but who here knows how to repair a ship," Gwen asked.

Sphere ended the display, as he looked to them, "I might be able to get the computers back online in the Falcon."

Then DRU brought his hands up, as his fingers morphed into different tool settings, as he implied, "I've also studied rather quickly the schematics of the Prometheus and Falcon. Repairing it shouldn't be a problem, I should be able to reconfigure the wiring and software, as well as welding any hull breeches and such…"

"And if there's moldy food on the ship…" Jeff joked, as he pointed to Kori. "… she can eat it."

Kori lit up at that, as she went starry-eyed, and clasped her hands together, smiling, "Oooh, that food was delicious. I pray to X'hal that there is still blue furry food aboard the Falcon."

Everyone seemed to sweat drop at that, as Isaac looked to Rei and Gwen, as he asked, "If we all work together on the repairs, how long will it take?"

Gwen and Rei looked to each other, as they silently discussed on it, until Gwen spoke up, "If we work as fast as possible, taking care of the major problems and work on the minor, I'd say we can get the Falcon running again in a week, and then it'll take only a few hours to get to the planet-cracking colony of the Ishimura."

Isaac nodded, "Alright then. Let's get to work."

* * *

 **A Week Later**

 **The Last Night**

It had been a long and strenuous time for the remainder of the crew of the Falcon and Prometheus. They had worked nonstop in doing hull repairs on the Falcon, making sure there was no leaks or cracks in the hull of the ship. The computers had all been rebooted and refurbished as best they could, but with Rei, DRU, and Sphere helping, it was done faster than expected. It helped to have both Sphere and DRU merge with the computer systems to speed up the process. And with the lightning speed that Rei typed on the holo-keyboard pads, it was a breeze to finish. Of course, they would have to leave the Falcon and go back to the lifeboat back outside to sleep every night, so all-nighters were a no-go for them. Although, at the end of the sixth day, they had finished the repairs, and tomorrow, they would be on their way back to the colony set up by the Ishimura, get some scrubbers for the Falcon as well as repair the ship for Deep Space Travel, and they would be home free to go home.

But at the moment, right now, Isaac stood at the window, looking outside on the only clear night without any storms happening. Before him in the window, he had a clear view of the alien ship's wreckage. He stared at the ship with silent fear and worry on his face and eyes; his mind was wringing with the thoughts of something worse than what they had seen so far crawl out of the wreckage and head right towards them. It was like he was staring into the mouth of a cave, and all he could see was pitch darkness while feeling the fear associated with the dark: the fear of the unknown in that very darkness.

"Isaac?"

Isaac jumped in surprise, and turned around to see Kori, dressed in the same sweater she had worn her first night, with a look of concern on her face. After he calmed a bit, he replied, "Kori. I'm sorry, did I wake you?"

Kori shook her head, as she explained, "No. I awoke to acquire drinking fluid, but then as I passed where you were sleeping, i noticed you were not there. I saw you here and thought you had a Nemakra." Isaac looked confused on that, until she politely stated, "That is Zamaranian for the word you refer to as a 'Nightmare'."

He shook his head, and gave her reassurance, "Nah… I was… I just couldn't sleep, is all."

"Then is there something preventing you from sleeping," she asked in concern and worry as she approached him, as they both looked at the wreckage.

"I thought for sure that when the Creators' ship was destroyed, the threat would be gone, and everything would be normal again for us. We could all go home, try to put all that happened here to bed, and move on with our lives," Isaac confessed to her, as he sighed deeply, "Instead... It feels like this is just the beginning of something bigger and there's no escaping it."

Kori replied, "I too have been feeling like that." Isaac turned to look at her, as she went on, looking out the window as well, "When the Creators' ship crashed, I felt relieved that the place where I was tortured was gone. But lately, this feeling of something pulling me somewhere else as appeared inside. As if there is still something left unfinished..."

"And it won't stop no matter what," Isaac assured her, to which Kori nodded. "It's like we've started on a path and it's hard to get off it. The question is... Do we really have to take it?"

Kori nodded at that, as she looked outside the window, "I have wondered that myself when my mother told me I was to be the next head of the family. I did not find the answer either before it happened." Isaac looked like he was about to ask what she meant, but choose not to when Kori held his arm in comfort, as she finished, "Questions like that are hard to face alone."

Isaac looked at Kori with a slight blush on his face as he nods in agreement. He saw she was looking at the ship as well, namely the dark hole left, as if she too was expecting something of the Creators to come out as well.

They stood there for a bit in silence before the lifeboat's AC blew a cold wind causing Kori to shiver.

Isaac took her shoulders to try and warm her up, "It's pretty cold out tonight. Come on, let's try to get some sleep." Kori nodded as the two headed for where they were sleeping earlier in the lifeboat. Kori was about to sit down when Isaac pulled her into his arms on the couch.

Kori was a bit startled by this, as she asked, "Isaac? What are you-"

He sat her down in bed so that's she was sitting on his lap, as he replied, "It's cold and we're both feeling the weight of all that's happened." He took the blanket and wrapped it around them. "I'll keep watch tonight," he finished, knowing that she was feeling the fear he was feeling as well.

Kori looked surprised and nods as she moves in closer and rests her head between the left side Isaac's neck and shoulder. "Thank you."

As he brought his arms around her while the blanket warmed them both, they were warming each other up. It was evident as Isaac could feel warmth in Kori's body along with her heart beating on his side. For some reason despite his unpleasant memories of women back on Earth and how they bullied him. He looked at Kori who was sleeping soundly and could feel her breathing.

'I can't believe I'm doing this, for a girl no less,' Isaac thought to himself, as he saw her sleeping form next to him. 'But she's different from the others. Kori doesn't treat me like a weakling or boss me around. She listens to me, helps me, and is honestly nice to me without trying to use me. For the first time in my life, I'm actually comfortable around a girl...' He smiled, as he allowed a small chuckle to escape him. 'It's weird. It feels good, but weird. I wonder if this is how Jeff and Gwen feel when they are with each other.'

* * *

 **Later On**

As everything was silent, and with Isaac asleep as well, Kori stirred awake for a moment. She looked up at Isaac, as she could feel the warmth from Isaac's body. It was a rather comforting warmth that she felt when she was held by her father at times when she used to be frightened by the Zaklefrug at a young age.

She looked at Isaac, as she thought, 'Ever since meeting Isaac, it has been so strange though. He has been looking at me as Kori, someone he has just met, not just the future ruler of Zamaron. Why am I having this feeling now?' But she pushed it aside, as she gently nuzzled into him, resting her head in the point of his body where his shoulder connected to his chest, immediately going back to sleep.

* * *

 **The Next Day**

The Falcon had taken flight, albeit it was a bit on the clunky rickety side, but it managed to fly nevertheless. The ship was making its way to the colony of Aegis 7 made by the Ishimura. At the moment, DRU and Rei were both flying the controls while Isaac was on the main pilot seat, helping out with the flying. So far it had been a piece of cake. But at the moment, Gwen and Jeff were currently trying to radio the colony to get their attention. But so far… nothing but static.

"Ishimura planet-cracking colony, this is the USSCS Falcon. Respond," Gwen radioed. But all that was heard was static, as she tried again, "Colony, this is the USSCS Falcon. Please respond. We are in need of repairs, as our ship is barely holding together."

Sphere was hovering around, shining his blue light to make the necessary repairs, as Jeff was keeping track of the map. Kori flew over to Gwen, as one redhead asked the other, "Is there no response?"

"Nothing," Gwen replied, equally confused as Kori. "This is really creeping me out. First mutated human dead bodies trying to kill us, the Alien race we thought were benevolent to bestow us life try to kill us millions of years later. And now this. It's like this planet has the ability to make people lose their shit. So to speak."

"Gwen," Sphere hovered in place, sounding rather stunned at her turn of language. "I find it rather odd that someone of your intelligence should swear."

Gwen gave a relaxed half-smirk to the spherical A.I., "Even intelligent people need to swear once in a while."

"Speaking of swearing…" Isaac pointed out as he seemed to look at the front windshield of the ship, looking rather paled. "Oh shit."

Now Sphere was even more surprised, as he hovered over to Isaac, "Isaac, I suspected Gwendolyn of swearing in situations that pushed one's patience, but you seem to be doing it rather casually."

But then Jeff spoke up, as he stated, "Maybe that's why." And pointed right out in front of them.

As the Falcon was passing over a mountain, they got their first glimpse at the Ishimura Planet-Cracking colony that had been set up nearly nine days ago. The place was in a state of ruin, as they got closer to it. Smoke fumes were climbing out of the wreckage of a few buildings, and vehicles had been crashed around. Ships had also appeared to crash as well, with fires building from them as well as from where the smoke stacks had formed from the ruins of the colony. In truth be told, the sight made the teens, both human and aliens, feel a bit unnerved at the sight.

"Oh shit," Sphere whispered. "… indeed."

* * *

 **Colony Landing Pad**

After they had come in halfway through the colony, they immediately found a landing pad for the Falcon to station on. The landing was a bit rocky, due to the fact that it was their first time flying solo, but they managed to land nevertheless. Once the ship had safely landed, the teens got off and walked onto the bay area. As they looked around, the place was a mess; barrels and crates thrashed around, doors halfway blow or torn off. But the strangest thing they saw was the strange black organic growths on the wall. They looked similar to some kind of fungus. Truth be told, the whole place seemed rather eerie.

Sphere looked around, scanning around with his blue flashlight, "Strange. I'm not picking up any signs of life. Human or otherwise."

Kori walked over to Isaac, as she spoke her mind, "I do not like this. Where is everyone?"

"Good question," Isaac stated. He looked over to Jeff, as he asked, "This is your first time in a planet-cracking colony?"

Jeff nodded, "Yeah, this is a little weird. Colony like this should be packed full of maybe 200 people; colonists and workers. There should be a few Exo-Load Lifters walkin' about, workers blowing their money on drinks and hookers, but this… this is a ghost town."

Gwen looked over to them, as she naively stated, "Maybe they're all spending their money right now."

"With not even a sign of life," Jeff asked credulously. "Not likely." He huffed, as he groaned, "I hate to say or jinx this…."

Isaac paled as he figured what he was going to say, "Don't say it…"

"… but I think…"

"He's gonna say it," Isaac mumbled. "I know it."

"… we should split up," Jeff finished. "Gives us the chance to cover more ground."

Isaac slapped his forehead on this, as he groaned, while Kori looked at him in confusion, "May I ask what is distressing of the splitting up?"

Isaac looked over to the Zamaranian girl, as he sighed, "Your planet doesn't have any horror films, do you?" He looked around as he stated, "Splitting up is the last thing we need to do. Being in pairs: wrongo. If there's something here that isn't the norm, it's gonna pick us off one-by-one."

Gwen shook her head, as DRU implied, "I think what Jeff's implying is that we split into two teams." He then motioned to Jeff, Gwen, and Rei, "Jeff will go with Rei and Gwen…" He then pointed to Isaac, Kori, and Sphere, "… and I'll go with them."

Gwen crossed her arms, "Wow, that was quick."

* * *

 **Later On**

Isaac, Kori, Sphere, and DRU were traversing down one of the corridor hallways, leading to the barracks of the colonies. Hopefully they would find someone to help out with repairs to the Falcon. Anyone still alive. However, as they made their way through, all they found were the same black growths on the walls and ceilings. Kori flew over to Isaac, as she grabbed his arm.

He caught this, as he asked, "Something wrong?"

"No, I am… feeling of the uneasy," she confessed, as she looked around. "Should not this place be, as you put it, howling with activity?"

"Yeah, it should," Isaac replied, as he wearily looked around. "This just doesn't make any sense. Though they might have left it behind… I think…"

"I'm not sure anyone left this place," Sphere spoke up, as it gained their attention. "I doubt they would leave all the equipment behind. Even if they had weight limits."

"That does seem strange," DRU stated as he overlooked the colony's walls. "Even if they had weight limits, I doubt everything would be left behind."

"Yeah… WHOA!" Isaac said, as he nearly slipped on his feet. He caught himself good, as he managed to see what he had slipped in… and then paled at what he saw.

Kori flew over, as she asked, "Isaac. Is something wrong?"

He steadied himself, as he looked to the two, as he gulped, "Nothing good."

The two looked down, as Sphere's light as they looked at the floor… and saw a puddle of blood. But then Kori illuminated the entire hallway with her powers, as they all looked in horror. The whole room appeared to be a slaughterhouse scene, as blood was all over the walls.

Kori gasped, as Sphere examined it, "Hmmm, this was only a week old. Due to the coagulation of the blood."

"A week?" Isaac asked. "What happened?"

Sphere was silent for a moment, and turned to Isaac, as he simply replied, "I'm not sure."

DRU bent down, as he carefully examined the walls… and could tell there was struggle involved, "Whatever it was… nothing good came from it."

Isaac sighed, as he regained his nerve, "We should keep going. Maybe there might be someone around here who could talk to us."

And they continued to do so, unaware of what was awaiting them. As they treaded further, they found there was more bloodstains all around the floor, walls, and the ceiling. And to make matters worse, they found body parts, some were even blocking the doors from closing. And through it all, the trio had not found anyone that was still alive to even tell them what had happened. This was seriously unnerving Isaac to say the least; the others, he didn't know about though.

But he spoke his mind of it, "Okay, this is really starting to lose my calm here. It's like whatever happened here it seems like everyone lost their minds here. I mean this is weird shit." But then he shrugged, "But then again, we're in deep space, weird shit happens."

Kori took that into consideration, as she asked, "Why would excrement be strange or weird?"

Isaac shook his head, explaining to her, "It's another way of stating stuff." While talking to her, it was evident his cool seemed to return. So he continued, "Usually in deep space mining, accidents and weird stuff happens. And the people that work in this are somewhat the kind that are usually attracted to this kind of stuff."

"But does this usually happen in your deep space mining," DRU asked.

Isaac stopped, along with Kori to keep up with him, as he looked around the surroundings, as he finally replied, "Not like this. Really not like this."

Sphere scanned the walls, as they entered what appeared to be the cafeteria, as he scanned the walls, and saw symbols on them. Symbols either scratched into the walls with broken parts of fingernails… or scribed in blood. He turned to the two teens, as he called out, "Isaac! Kori! I think you two should see this." The two walked over to him, as he shined the light on the walls, "Any of this look familiar?"

It was then that Isaac pieced it together, as the symbols were indeed familiar. Ignoring the source of what the symbols were made of, they instead recognized their origin. Isaac went wide eye, as he spoke up, "These symbols are the same as the ones in the…"

"The Creators' vessel," Kori finished. They all turned to each other as she asked, "But I do not understand. How did…?"

However, the question was put on hold as they heard cracking sounds. They turned to the darkness to find the source of the sounds, and were a bit shocked to see what they had discovered. It was one of the diggers, male, covered in blood stains, cuts, and looked like a zombie. Well, not an undead zombie, but more like a couch potato zombie. He was really out of it, as he slumped towards them, bleeding, and stepping on broken glass on his bare feet. He finally stopped ten feet in front of them, still zonked out, but in his right hand, was a plasma cutter that switched on.

Isaac gently spoke to him, raising his hands to show he wasn't a threat, "Sir? Sir, what's going on?"

"They want us…" he raggedly spoke out, as he still looked like he was in a trance. "They want our bodies… they needed us to turn…"

Isaac looked confused on that, "Um, I'm not sure I understand…"

"I had to kill them. Me and the others who heard," the worker responded, as he looked to the teens in a frantic panic, "We had to kill them all, don't ya understand?"

Kori immediately tried to calm him down, "Please, sir. We do not…"

"I WONT LET'EM HAVE ME!" the man shouted, waving his plasma blade around to keep the three back. Finally, the man settled it down, as he clawed the left side of his face iwht his left hand, drawing blood in the process, as he mumbled, "They want… they want our bodies… all of us…" he then pulled his hand towards them, as he mumbled, "This body's mine. It's my flesh. My bone. And my blood."

Then they saw him lifting the blue glowing blade up to his neck, as the two teens were in shock to see this, as Isaac tried to stop him, "Wait, don't!"

But the man chuckled like a lunatic, as he smiled the same, as he finished, "They can have my body… in hell…" And then he silenced himself, by slashing his neck, nearly cutting his head off as it hung by a thread, dangling on the tidbit left of flesh. He collapsed on the ground splattering blood out in the process.

The three teens and spherical ball looked in horror, but Isaac snapped out of it, as he radioed to his cousin, "Gwen! Gwen, pick up!"

* * *

 **Control Room**

The trio had made their way to the control room, to which Rei and Gwen were working on the consoles. They figured they could find someone alive there with use of the security cameras, but if not a visual log from someone. So far, they had seen the same thing that Isaac and his group had found. At the moment, Jeff was leaning on Gwen's chair, as he was looking at the blank screens.

"How long is this gonna take," he asked. "This whole place is giving me the creeps."

"Not long. There's just a few more firewalls to go through, and I think we'll have something solid," Gwen answered, as she was typing. She then looked to Rei, "Any luck on your side?"

"I'm almost done, though something has begun to trouble me," Rei replied.

Jeff arched an eyebrow as he looked at her, "You don't look so troubled."

"Outside I may seem calm, but inside, my systems are all fired in a negative," Rei explained. "Although it may sound insignificant, to me it's the equivalent of the emotion you call fear."

Gwen was a bit taken by that, but kept her eyes on the screen, "Fear? You?"

"I know it may seem hard for you to believe, but Wayward built me to learn to be more human," Rei explained. "The more contact I have with living lifeforms, the more I can learn from them. And in this experience, I've been learning a lot."

Gwen stole a glance at her, and half-smirked, "Guess there's something about you that is human. Good to hear."

"Done," Rei finished, as the screens lit up with the vid cams.

However, what the three teens saw… it wasn't reassuring.

On the screens it was the same, just as Isaac and the others saw. There were bloodstains on the walls as well as indications of the black ooze growths. There were no signs of any of the bodies either, although on one screen, they saw a leg stopping the door from closing. They thought it might have been someone passed out, but it was no good. Once the door opened fully, they saw the leg had been severed off the body, showing that it was just another casualty. The entire colony was empty but had been discovered to have been reduced to a slaughterhouse.

Jeff gulped, as he looked to Rei, "Now I know why you're freakin' out on the inside."

But then Gwen seemed to light up, as she typed in something, "Wait. There's a log here; it might help in getting some answers."

She pushed the button, and the screen was a bit on the static side, until things cleared up a little. On the screen, a man was a slight on the panic side, as he relayed the message, "This is Dig Team 7! I don't know what the hell is going on, but it's turning into Hell down here. Ever since we dug up that strange Monolith structure a week ago, things have been getting really crazy! All the suicides and homicides…! And worse, the other dig crews have changes! Oh my God! What the hell's going on?! Why hasn't the Ishimura done anything?!" At the moment, a familiar growl was heard on the screen, as they saw the man was frightened even more, as he whimpered, "Oh my God! OH MY GOD!" And then suddenly a big slash-like claw stabbed him, sending him off screen with a big splash of blood… and then the video ended.

The three looked rather shocked at this, as Gwen looked to the two, and stated, "We so need to get out of here." Suddenly, her comm-link went on, as she answered, "Isaac?"

" _Gwen! Gwen, pick up_!"

She answered, "I read you, Isaac."

" _We've got to get out of here! Now_!"

* * *

 **Outer Space**

 **Aegis 7 Orbit**

After they had gotten back to the Falcon, they used the escape pod, to which Sphere and DRU had managed in a short time to convert into a space vehicle. It didn't have shock point travel, but it had enough power and oxygen to make it to the Ishimura. Currently everyone was a bit on the edgy side, since the colony was a giant abatuaire, and possibly the butchers were still running amuck. They were just lucky that none of them had gotten aboard the ship. For now, all they could do was head for the Ishimura.

Isaac, who was sitting with Rei as she tried to get a com link to the Ishimura, asked, "What the heck happened down there? I thought we destroyed the ship back at the site? Did we miss a vase or something?"

Sphere floated next to him, as he replied, "Perhaps it wasn't the only base lab. They must have set the entire planet as the lab."

At that moment, DRU reported, "We're approaching the planet cracker, USG Ishimura."

Once they were in sight, as well as safely navigating through the debris field in Aegis 7's orbit, they saw the Ishimura, gently floating around the atmosphere of the planet, and with the sun coming up on the edge of the planet, giving illumination to the ship.

Kori walked over to where Isaac and Rei were, as she took a glimpse for the first time ever at the planet cracker ship. "This is the ship, Ishimura? It is rather lethargic."

"Deep space mining is a rather lethargic and lucrative business, Kori," Rei stated, as she continued to try to get a signal. "Before the rescue mission, Aegis 7 was discovered as a rather large mineral find, according to the prospector reports."

"Not to mention the Ishimura's the oldest planet cracker of its kind," Jeff chimed in. "This thing's supposed to be decommissioned after this mission."

Gwen looked to Rei and asked, "Anything, Rei?"

"Nothing at the moment," Rei answered, as she turned on the main comm. All that was heard was static, which didn't bode well, "Strange. There's usually interference at first, but not from this close to the ship." She then tried again, "Ishimura, this is Rei 8 of Wayward Industries. Requesting landing clearance. Over" Static once again was heard, as she tried again, "Ishimura, this is Rei 8 of Wayward Industries. Requesting landing clearance. Do you read? Over."

And yet still… more static.

Gwen thought about it for a moment, until she spoke, "That's odd. We're close enough to the Ishimura, so there shouldn't be any sort of interference. Not even the debris field. What's going on?"

Jeff shrugged, "Maybe they are on coffee break or something."

At that moment, Kori looked confused, as she asked, "Why would coffee cause people to break things?"

Everyone just looked confused on that, until Isaac cleared it up, "No Kori, he means that they are all taking a moment to rest before getting back to work."

Kori seemed to understand better, "Oh."

DRU walked over to Gwen's post, as she contemplated on the situation, "Strange. Never heard of a total communication blackout on a planet cracker this big."

"Look-" DRU called out, as he moved his arm that collided with Gwen's arm. He looked down to her in apology, "Sorry." Then pointed out at the vid screen before them, "Look, there's a ship heading into the Ishimura now."

Sure enough, there was a small freighter heading right towards the Ishimura.

"We can follow that shuttle in and explain to the crew inside that our radio wasn't functioning," DRU suggested.

Gwen felt a little unsure on that, as she saw the way the freighter was going at the Ishimura, "I'm not sure, DRU. If they're not responding, that might mean something is going on aboard the ship. Possibly something dangerous."

"Our fuel is unfortunately running low," Rei stated, as she pointed out the obviousness. "If we don't land soon, we may end up drifting through space, or crash back on to Aegis 7."

Everyone was silent on it, until Isaac sat up, and spoke his mind, "I say we go for it; it's worth a shot. At least we'll risk running out of fuel inside the ship rather than outside it."

"It's your call, Jeff," Gwen pointed out. "You are the senior officer here due to you being the only one of us officially in the military."

Everyone looked at Jeff for an answer as he looked with a neutral expression, "Gwen makes a good point, but Shepard and DRU have the right idea due to the circumstances. Besides our chances our better on the Ishimura than on that dead rock."

Everyone nodded in agreement, as DRU sat next to Gwen, as Rei piloted the ship as best she could, as Gwen stated, "The Ishimura it is." They then flew the lifeboat after the smaller ship into the Ishimura.

As they flew through, the smaller ship was heading for the opening to the docking area, but the doors were closing.

Kori looked in worry, as she asked for everyone, "Are they trying to lock us out?!"

Sphere observed the situation, as he stated, "It would seem Gwen was correct. There might be a situation going on right now and we've come at a bad time."

"We aren't going to make it," Jeff called out, as he looked at Rei, "Step on it Rei!"

"My apologies, but this is as fast as the lifeboat will go," Rei replied.

The door closed just as the shuttle barely made it through. Everyone looked in worry, as DRU stated the obvious, "It appears as though we are now trapped like rats."

Gwen was starting to panic a little bit, "Please don't make it sound like that, DRU."

Kori, Rei, DRU, and Sphere look confused by that, but Isaac and Jeff knew what was bothering her.

'Oh no, she's starting to get nervous from being in this tight space again,' Isaac realized. He then looked to Rei, as he asked, "Rei, can you get contact the bridge now that we are inside the Ishimura?"

Rei nodded, as she managed to get the comms on again, "Ishimura, this is Rei 8 of Wayward Industries. Requesting landing clearance in the main docking area. Over" but once again, stating, earning a groan from Jeff, as she tried again. "Ishimura, this is Rei 8 of Wayland Industries. Requesting landing clearance in the main docking area. Do you read? Over" More static. Rei looked to the others, as she apologized, "I'm sorry, but there's still some sort of interference between our signals."

Jeff thought about it and then spoke up, "Well then there's only one thing left to do." Everyone looked at him as he replied, "One of us is going to have to leave the ship and manually open the doors from outside."

Kori stood up, as she waved, "I can do it. I will simply fly out and pull the doors open." And then went for the door, as she activated her SIG suit.

Sphere flew right into her face, as he stated, "I wouldn't advise that. The doors need to be opened via the controls to ensure the risk of everything inside flying out into space is avoided."

Suddenly, they heard the sound of another SIG suit activating, and looked to see Isaac, standing there, suited up, as he stated, "I'll do it. It should be easy to do."

Kori then insisted with Isaac, "I shall go with you in case something goes wrong."

Sphere flew up to them as well, as he chimed in his service, "I'll go with you as well. Just in case."

But Isaac waved it off, as he assured both of them, "It's all right. It won't take me more than a few minutes to fly out, access the controls, and fly back in."

"Isaac is correct," Rei concurred, as she further explained to the two alien occupants. "It won't take him long and I'll be able to walk him through it if he needs assistance over the radio in his SIG suit." But then she looked to Isaac, as she advised, "However, Isaac, you will also have to close the doors where you are. You will have to go through the Ishimura to where we are after closing them."

"Just another thing to mention when they security team comes after us," DRU chimed in less than enthusiastic about the security rounding them up.

"Thanks and I understand," he said, as he was about to make his way to the airlock. But before he did, he walked over to one of the couches, and pulled up the plasma cutter. "Just in case," he said, as he headed for the airlock.

"Isaac," Korie spoke up, stopping him in his tracks. She went over to him with a concerned expression, as she looked at him in a worried but pleading manor. "Please be careful. If this ship has been in orbit around this planet for as long as we have been here, it may have Xenocromophs inside already."

A small pause between the two as this information set in. But Isaac nodded, "I will, Kori. You too." Kori smiled in relief and moved away from the door so that she wouldn't get sucked out. As the door closed behind him, as he grumbled, "Flying through space. They never covered any of this in training." The door opened up, and Isaac flew out in the blackness of space.

As he was far enough, his boots' soles ignited with blue streams of boosters, as his pack opened up two stalks with rocket boosters on them. Using all four, he was enabled better control in the zero gravity of the area, as he stopped spinning and was now floating stabilized in space.

Gwen then spoke up over the radio, " _All right Isaac, you should see maintenance hatch somewhere near the door_."

Isaac flew over to the Ishimura with the life pod following behind slowly. Once he got to the doors, he looked around until he saw a medium sized door with a wheel to the right of the door to the docking area.

"I see it," he said as he floated over, but enjoyed the feeling of weightlessness all in space, "I wonder how many people get to feel what it's like to float in zero gravity?"

" _I'd say a good handful of people at best_ ," Gwen answered.

"Probably yeah." He then landed by the door and began to turn the wheel with a strained look on his face hidden underneath his faceplate, "There must not be much maintenance out here because this wheel is really stiff."

Jeff then chimed in to ask, " _Do you need a hand out there, Shepard?_ "

Kori obviously was overhearing this, as she spoke up, almost anxious, " _I will head out now and_ -"

"No thanks," Isaac said. He managed to turn the wheel after one last strong pull, "It just needed one last strong turn!" The door opened and he went into an empty hall with different pieces of junk and debris everywhere. There was barely any light in the hall only giving enough illumination to see where the twists and turns were. "It's not just the door that needs maintenance. This part of the ship looks likes someone was living in it for the trip here and didn't bother to clean up."

"Isaac, according to my digital map of the Ishimura, the manual override controls should be in the room at the end of the hall to the left of the intersection a head of you," Rei responded.

Isaac started to move through the hallway until he saw the intersection. "I see it. I'm heading there now." He turned left and walked down the hall.

"That's strange," DRU stated confused as he looked towards the others, "I thought the procedure for extended space travel was the crew sleeping in hyper sleep chambers. How could that part of the ship be a mess if it's only been here for two or three days?"

"It usually is. I don't like this," Gwen stated, as she then switched on to her radio. "Isaac, does the hallway look as though there was a battle or anything indicating a Xenocromorph," Gwen asked leading to Kori looking tense at the thought of Isaac alone inside.

"Nope. It's just full of junk and debris," he responded, as he looked around while walking through the hallway until he reached the door. "I'm at the door Rei mentioned now," he opened the door by pushing the green button on the control panel by the door.

" _Maybe all that junk was when the ship was being prepared for the trip and a lazy employee left it all there just to avoid the work_ ," Jeff hypothesized over the radio. " _The crew didn't bother to clean it up because we're the only ones in need of it so far._ "

"That's probably it. I wonder who would be lazy enough to do-" at that moment, Isaac saw the console to the left of the window where the lifeboat could be seen. "I see the controls now. They look old but still functional."

" _That's good_ ," Rei responded. " _There should be a manual button somewhere on the controls. However I should warn you now that your door will lock due to the security system in there while ours opens due to clearance."_ Isaac looked stunned by this, but Rei assured him, " _Don't worry though, I have the security code for that part of the ship, as soon as the door locks, I'll radio tell you the code to deactivate it_."

Isaac saw the command above the controls covered in dust and he wiped away, "I see it. I'm pressing it now." As soon as he pressed the button, the door behind him made a locking sound as the doors in front of the lifeboat opened.

"Okay Isaac, we're heading it now," Rei replied, as she and DRU used the controls to head into the Ishimura. "After you close the doors, use the keyboard to enter 971Weyward. It's Mr. Weyward's personal password so it should unlock the door no problem."

"Thanks, Rei," Isaac replied.

The ship flew in without any problems. Isaac closed the door with the command and entered the password. The door unlocked and he walked out back into the hallway, and radioed, "Okay, the door is unlocked. I just need directions to where-"

"-Where we can see them and stand down or we will shoot!"

Rei spoke up, sounding reasonable, "Wait. We can explain-"

A gunshot was heard on the radio as it went silent.

Isaac heard the unknown voice and gunshot, "Rei? Kori? Gwen? Anyone?" Static filled the radio. 'I guess the security team isn't in a listening mood,' he moaned in defeat. 'Okay, I guess I'm on my own. I already know where not to go so that's a start.' He then headed back where he came but this time went down the other hallway. 'I hope they are okay. That or the security team isn't too beaten up by Kori.'

* * *

 **Next Chapter: Meeting Old and New Faces;** **Night of the Ishimura pt.2**


	13. Night of the Ishimura pt2

**Explorers of the Universe**

* * *

 **Chapter 12: Meeting Old and New Faces;** **Night of the Ishimura pt.2**

* * *

 **USG Ishimura**

 **Lounge Deck**

The lounge deck was loaded with a tv, couches, chairs, and desks, a gaming system, and a few other assorted things for those who needed to cut loose as well as to work out. But now… it looked like a warzone or a holocaust aftermath. Bloodstains were on the walls, and most of the equipment was trashed. A huge brawl had gone through there, and the place was abandoned, or rather quarantined, as a holographic sign was flashing up at the rim of the ceiling and wall, sliding around the roof, as it did so. There was no sign of anyone in the room much even alive as anyone thought.

CLANK!

One of the roof grates from the ventilation on the roof pipes fell down, as it was an indication that someone was alive and roaming around. At that moment, someone dropped from the hole in the ventilation, and landed on the ground safely.

She was a young Latin Hispanic girl of sixteen years of age, with light tan skin, flowing dark brown hair that went down her midback with bounce, had a green bandana in her hair that allowed one curl bang to stick out like an antennae, and two curled bangs that stuck at her cheeks. Her body was slender but carried under the skin tight muscles that didn't bulge or get noticed, not if she flexed them, a small beauty mark under her right eye, and brown eyes. She was wearing a white sleeveless t-shirt with a blue jump suit with the top zipped down and tied around her waist, with brown boots, and brown work gloves. Her name was Misty Vascuez, one of the younger workers in the Mechanics/Engineering Division of the Ishimura.

She was currently looking around, scrapping for spare parts from dropped palm coms, and toys that a few kids had left around. She stuffed her parts in a brown satchel around her shoulder. She then worked her way to one of the bigger game consoles, opening the back to take any necessary parts.

"Ay dos mios, am I glad this thing's got spare parts," she spoke with a Spanish accent. "Anywhere else, I would've been shit out of luck. Damn the captain for putting up this damn quarantine."

Suddenly, the sounds of scratching and gluttorial growls were heard, as she crashed down on the floor, avoiding eye contact, even with the shut windows. The milky white windows still showcased what appeared to be distorted figures crawling down the hallway, with claws high up in the air, as they lurched forward. Misty made her way crawling on the floor back to the ventilation shaft, and quickly climbed back in. However, the sounds of clanging didn't go unnoticed by at least the last lurcher who spun around, looking in the direction to where the shaft was.

* * *

 **In the Shaft**

Misty currently made her way through a ventilation shaft that would lead her to the main deck where her father should have been. She had gotten a radio signal from him saying he would be back on the Ishimura along with her mother. However, the voice sound frantic, as if he had been scared or had seen something that rattled him. Though it didn't matter, as she learned that the shuttle carrying them both had crashed in the main port shaft on the main port deck. She was crawling through the shaft as quickly but as quietly as she could to avoid detection by any of whatever had infested the ship that started a week ago. So far, Captain Mathias had ordered a main quarantine that locked up the ship, but kept them dead in orbit.

She had a tired expression on her face having not eaten all day and could slowly feel the fatigue in her body from only getting two hours of sleep while avoiding the creatures. 'I'm at the half way point now. I just have to get through the main hallway, past the damn auditorium briefing room, and I'll be there,' she thought to herself. 'I just have to hope the crew there hasn't been chowed down yet, or worse.'

She was sweating from a mix of fear; she refused to admit to herself and from the dry air in the shaft. The smell of dead flesh flowed into her nose every now and then making her slightly cringe from the terrible smell and knowing where it was coming from. 'Damn it! All this madness from some oversized rock,' she thought to herself as the anger flowed through her from all the friends and crew mates she had lost for this stupid job.

Just as she made another turn in the shaft, she suddenly stopped herself when she heard footsteps below her. She held her gun tightly and ready but stayed still to avoid being discovered. She looked down through the shaft below her face and sees the origin of the footsteps, a Slasher was moving through the hall looking for more humans to kill, like a predator on the hunt for prey.

Misty paled at this, as she gulped, 'Oh shit! Just what I need!' She stayed still and slowed her breathing down in the hopes that the creature, or Slasher as anyone would probably call it, would leave despite the great temptation to drop down and kill it for what it did to her crewmates. She held it in as best as she could, until finally the Slasher left the hall way. 'Bout time that mother-'

But suddenly, two claws shot up in front of her, causing her to scream in surprise. Suddenly, the ventilation was pulled down, causing Misty to fall down on the floor, as she flipped over onto her back, as she was in fornt of two Slashers that spotted her, and the first was slouching its way to her.

She scrambled back, doing her best to get away, as she reached for her gun, but paled as she saw the gun far from the second one. She looked up, as the Slasher came close to her, bringing its claws up to impale her. A single tear dripped down her eye, as the fear had gotten to her, as she cried out, "SOMEONE HELP ME, PLEASE!"

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGH!"

Misty and the first Slasher had heard the cries of another slasher, as they looked behind, and saw that the second Slasher had been impaled on what appeared to be a miner-class plasma cutter… deep in its chest. It spasmed, as the blade went up, slicing its torso and head in half vertically, as it staggered back, but then suddenly, the blade horizontally cut it in the mid-section, showing that someone wearing an orange and black SIG suit with the helmet on, had slayed the beast.

The remaining Slasher jump-charged at him, but the individual was quicker, as he used his rocket boots to slide on the floor, slashing at the legs, cutting them off. The Slasher fell down on the floor, stomach first, but used its blade arms and secondary claw arms as quadruped legs, turning around, but not in time. The individual brought down the plasma cutter down on its head, piercing it through the floor, and twisting at it, until the head was nothing more but goo and bone half-burnt.

Misty got back up, albeit on shaky legs, as she looked up at her last-minute savior. She wobbled a little, getting her strength back little by little, as she sighed, "Thanks for the hand there-" but as he turned around and the helmet retracted, she became quite shocked to find that her savior was none other than Isaac Shepard. Apparently, the two had history back on Earth… as her bullying him verbally rather than physically.

"Sheepy!? What the hell is a wimp like you doing in this hell hole," she questioned, easily shocked but not amused at the fact that she got saved by him. "And where-" But she stopped, as she saw Isaac's plasma cutter that he used to slice through the Slashers with ease, and pointed at it, "The hell did you get that?!"

Isaac sighed, as his spoke up, his voice clearly having sarcasm due to his history with Misty, "Nice to see you too Misty. I'm here because-" But they both stopped, as they heard footsteps and the growl of more Slashers coming from the far end of the hall, and quickly turned back to her, "How about we talk about this somewhere that isn't filled with Xenocromorphs?!"

Misty looked at Isaac with a glare. She hated the idea of agreeing with who she saw as a wimp but knew he had a point. "Fine," she pressed her code into a console by a door next to them, "Through here, this will take us somewhere where you can explain what the hell a Xenocromorph is!" She ran in as Isaac tried to keep up while being ready to use his plasma cutter.

* * *

 **Earlier On**

 **Docking Bay**

Back aboard the lifeboat shuttle, the others were awaiting the door to unlock, as they all sat at their stations. But none was worried enough for Isaac than Kori, as she fidgeted at her seat, while only Sphere noticed. Though everyone else seemed to just wait on standby or just waited patiently.

Then, Isaac spoke on the radio frequency, _"Okay, the door is unlocked. I just need directions to where-"_

"Attention unknown ship, you are surrounded," a grown feminine voice spoke out. The vid screen turned on, as the teens spotted who was awaiting them outside.

It was a team of six security officers assigned to the Ishimura itself. The leader was a twenty-nine Brazilian woman with olive tanned skin, tall and slender figure, short cut red hair combed to the left and topaz eyes. She was wearing a white turtleneck sleeveless shirt with light and dark brown pants with brown knee armor, black boots, and wore a dark brown jacket with light brown armor on her shoulders and forearm cuffs but more armor plating on her right arm, with brown gloves, and a SIG module hooked to the back. Another on her right was a Caucasian blonde man with a medium build with blue eyes, and wore the same ensemble only with no additional armor on his right arm. On his right was a scrawny twenty something Caucasian man with the same uniform but with the jacket zipped up, a gray hood covering his red hair, a security cap on top, and green eyes. To the woman's left was another woman of Asian descent, but with her hair almost shaved off with a blue pony tail, bangs on her ears, a small tuff of it still on the right side of her head, with blue eyes and blue lipstick, and had no jacket like the others but her left arm was armored with a dark and light armor sleeve that went from shoulder to hand. Behind them was a big brawler of an African American male with a dark and light armored T-shirt section who didn't look all that happy. And finally, a Hispanic twenty-something male of a small build and suited up like the redheaded guy though with no cap or hood. And they all had pistols at the ready to aim and fire.

The redheaded Brazilian woman spoke out, "Step out of your ship, put your hands where we can see them, and stand down or we will shoot!"

deciding not to start a fight, the teens silently agreed to speak before anything happened. Rei used the speakers, as she responded, "Wait. We can explain-"

 _BAM!_

The sound of a bullet skimming the hull halted any negotiations, as the Brazilian woman spoke up again, this time, a bit testy, "Last chance! Step out of your craft, put your hands where we can see them, or we will shoot you all!"

Jeff arched an eyebrow as it became apparent that the voice was familiar only to him, as he thought, 'I know that voice...'

"So much for them being understanding," Sphere responded, as he looked to Kori, who was just as confused on what to do.

"What should we do," Kori asked, not looking forward to any confrontations. "They do not seem to be willing to listen to us as we hoped they would."

Then Dru spoke up, as he looked at Kori, "They may not take well to you and I. If the crew of the Ishimura have already encountered the same hostile forces of the planet, they may consider us a threat as well."

Gwen sighed, not liking the situation, but they had to do something, "We have to do what they say, but we all have to be careful with our words. After all, we did barge in." She looked over to Kori, Sphere, and Dru, "You two stay close to Jeff and I. Sphere… go find Isaac."

"Understood," Sphere replied, as he flew towards the wall, and flew through it leaving a blue energy sphere to dissipate as he phased through the wall.

* * *

 **Outside the Pod**

Every one of the security force was on standby, awaiting anything funny. Nobody knew or saw the white sphere flying away and phasing through the next wall.

The blue-haired Asian girl shook her head, "I don't like it. They should have been out by now."

the red-headed rookie half-smirked at her, "What's the matter, Shen? Hoping for some guys on the ship for tonight?"

The Brazilian woman spoke up, "Knock it off Dobbs. All right, let's-"

The door of the life raft opened up; the security team consisting of the Brazilian, Dobbs, and Shen pointed their guns at the door. But before any triggers were pulled, Gwen, Rei, Kori, and Dru walked out, with Kori and Dru having their hands up, showing they weren't a threat.

"It's all right, there's no need for violence," Gwen spoke up, holding her hands as she tried to reason with them. "Here we are as you instructed. We apologize for the abrupt landing, but the situation called for it."

Dobbs sighed, as he grunted, "They're just a bunch of teenagers."

"Famous last words in some cases," She poked out, as she still retained holding her gun at them, even as Jeff walked behind the others.

The Brazilian woman holstered her gun, as she walked towards them, and stopped five feet from them, "Who are you and what are you doing in this sector? It's supposed to be forbidden."

It' was Rei's turn to spe"We were sent here by the Wayward Industries. I am Rei 8 of the Falcon ship owned by Wayward Industries."

"Just what we need, a toaster oven playing space captain or so she says," Dobbs huffed out.

"She's telling the truth, Dobbs," the Brazilian woman stated, earning a shocked look on his face. "Rei 8 is the personal android and assistant of Peter Wayward: your employer."

"Former employer. He's dead," Gwen flat out said, earning surprised gazes at her. "He was killed while on the same mission we were on."

The security officers don't respond as they still don't fully trust them, as Shen shot out, "What mission was that exactly? The Ishimura is the only ship that's supposed to be stationed out here."

Gwen and the others were surprised to hear all that, as she thought, 'They didn't know either? What else has Wayward been hiding from us?'

But before arguments went out, Rei spoke out, "We were on a special mission on behalf of the company to investigate the ruins in sector seven of the Aegis 7. The ruins were connected to the research done by Johnathan and Martha Shepard aboard the ship, Prometheus, on the subjects of interest they called the Creators. Unfortunately, we were confronted by an aggressive alien life form and lost most of our crew in the process, including the late Mr. Wayward."

They seemed to let it all sink in, but Dobbs stated, "I don't buy it. This sounds like a load of crap to me."

Shen then looked to the Brazilian and asked, tilting her head to her, "What do you think Vincent?"

Vincent sighed, as she looked to her team, "For the moment, I agree with Dobbs. But Wayward never goes anywhere without his assistant. If he's not on the ship, than he probably is dead." She then looked back at the teens, as she interrogated, "Why did you board the ship when you were told not to and where's the Falcon?"

"The Falcon was damaged in the attack of aggressive alien organisms preventing us from contacting the Ishimura from the planet," Gwen explained, doing her best to try and make it sound plausible while not crazy at the same time. She knew that everything they experienced was too crazy to believe, but no lying would go well. "We used the life raft to fly to the Ishimura in the hopes of making contact with the crew to request assistance with repairs."

Then DRU stepped in, as he explained, "Unfortunately the life raft became dangerously low on fuel when we reached your ship. We also attempted to make contact but we only received static from your crew's response. When we saw the other ship enter the ship's runway, we decided to fly in, and explain our situation inside. We didn't mean to make it seem we were ignoring your response and we mean no harm."

Then Shen walked up to the nanomorph droid, aiming her gun under his chin, as she was dangerously close to popping a cap in his head, "How do we know you and the one next to you are the aggressive alien life forms that attacked you? After all, you all did break in by overriding the runway doors!"

Hobbs then pointed out, "Not to mention they could have been the ones that attacked our base on the planet."

it was then that Gwen stepped up and defended her friends, "I can assure you that Kori and DRU are not a threat. If anything, they're victims of the aggressive alien attacks as much as our crew was."

"I also apologize for the crashing of our ship." Kori apologized, but looked rather frantic, "But we must find Isaac to ensure he is safe."

Vincent arched an eyebrow, but seemed to ease down a bit, as she stated, "If this Isaac is the one who opened the doorway, he won't be far. We'll find him as we take you to quarantine on the captain's orders."

But just as soon as they were going to leave, Gwen stopped, as she tried to convince them to bring them with them. "Wait! You said you were attacked as well. You'll need our help to fight against the Xenocromorphs that are attacking you."

Hobbs didn't buy it one bit, as he shot out, "Now I know for sure they're all lying if they need to make up some make up alien!"

Vincent, on the other hand, was deep in thought on this, 'I still don't know about this... They did break in like Shen mentioned, but if they are low on fuel, they would've ended up drifting in space with no hope what so ever. Not to mention that ship did have a real Wayward authorization code that checked out. Not to mention we've only been in this sector of the planet while they've been on the other side of it. Which means they couldn't been the ones behind the attack at our base.' She then looked to the big guy, asking, "How's it looking over there, Pendleton?"

Pendleton was currently overlooking the ship, until he finally replied, "The ship's in bad condition, Vincent. We're trying to open the doors but they're malfunctioning."

Vincent then looked back to the others, but then asked, "Let's say we believe all this, who was the acting captain at the time of these events?"

"Marek," Jeff replied, as he walked over to her. "It was Captain Marek. Hey Vincent, I thought that was you on the speaker."

"Carter," Vincent questioned, instantly recognizing the boy. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"On the same mission they were on with Marek," Jeff replied, and then pointed to Kori and DRU. "And don't worry about these two. They're only dangerous when provoked…" and then looked to Hobbs. "Or when someone tries to shoot them."

"You know this guy Vincent," Shen asked.

Vincent nodded, "Yeah. He's the son of Marek. A guy I went through basic training with." She then turned back to Jeff, as she went on, "If you're here, then..."

Jeff hung his head down in sadness, as he spoke up, "I'm sorry, he gave his life saving all of us. Saving Earth…"

Vincent paled at that, as she lowered her head down, "Ese hijo de un..." She sighed heavily, looking back up at the boy, who looked back at her, "He always said he wanted to go out like a hero."

"Vincent! We finally have the door open," Hanson called out.

Vincent walked up to the ship, while Dobbs and Shen continued to point their guns at the teens.

Vincent then asked, "Is there anyone in there?"

Hanson looked to her and replied, "As far as we can tell, no. We just managed to force the door to open."

"I don't like this," Vincent whispered, as her thoughts spoke louder. 'Ever since the Relic was found, things went to hell at the base. If it was caused by this alien lifeform they are talking about..' She then made up her mind, as she walked back down to the teens, and ordered out, "All right, Dobbs, Shen, you're with me along with Jeff, and..." She looked to DRU, not knowing his name but pointed to him to get an answer, to which he replied.

"DRU," he replied. "Named after three basic letters I found when I was first… 'born'."

"Thanks. DRU as well," she replied, and looked to the others. "We're going to check the ship for survivors."

Shen arched an eyebrow, "Vincent, are you sure? This could be a trap."

Dobbs then agreed to it, as he pointed to DRU and Kori, "Shen's got a point, as much as I hate to admit it. This could be what they're waiting for."

Vincent then hardened her resolve on this, "If there is some kind of alien behind what happened on the base, then I'll need some extra help looking into the ship. Hanson, Ramirez, and Pendleton, keep the others where they are and don't open fire unless they become a threat until we get back."

Hanson, Ramirez, and Pendleton all responded, "Understood."

before they went off, Gwen walked up to Jeff and hugged him, not wanting to let him go, "Jeff, be careful in there."

He returned the hug, as he replied, "Don't worry, babe…" and then cupped her chin, just to lean in and give her a kiss, as he pulled back smiling, "We've gotten this far. No problems yet."

Jeff and DRU walked forward slowly and join Vincent's group as they entered the ship. As they did, proper procedures to look through were made.

Vincent responded, "Clear right."

"Clear left," Dobbs stated.

As they entered through, Shen looked in, using her light, but gasped at what she saw, "Shèngjié de mǔqīn..." Once they got a clear view, they all saw what she had seen. The inside was a mess, as the walls were covered in blood stains. It was almost as if a wild animal had broken through.

Dobbs ran his fingertips on the wall, making sure what he was seeing wasn't fake, "There's a hell of a lot of blood, but no bodies."

Shen shrugged, regaining some composure, "Sounds like one of your parties."

Dobbs arched an eyebrow at that, as he countered, "Or your sex life."

"Cut the chatter, people," Vincent said, breaking up the fight. "This thing didn't crash itself."

Jeff looked around with his rifle light, as he replied, "Whoever was piloting the ship, they aren't here anymore."

Dobbs quirked, "Maybe your alien boogie man took them."

Jeff looked at him with disdain, as he shot back, "Screw you, Rookie."

DRU looked around, as he hypothesized, "I think that whatever happened or what did this might still be around. Obviously getting more fresh meat."

As they scaled the place, Vincent saw a couple of blood trails but only bare foot ones. Not tracks made by boots. "Blood trails... Someone got off this shuttle..."

Dobbs then looked at DRU, pointing his gun at them, "I knew they were lying! I bet they stowed away and-" but as Dobbs accused them, the body of the pilot was heard violently changing. They all looked to see blood spurting out from the driver's seat as debris was flung from towards the group sending them to the ground. Vincent got up just in time to see the Xenocromorph stand up in full view; its scythe arms rose up, it roaring out a birth or battle cry, and then charged right at her.

Vincent reached for her gun that flew out of her hand from the crash, but just as the monster was about to reach her, a silver green tentacle wrapped around her waist, pulling her towards the owner of it: DRU. Then Xenecromorph charged at him, but DRU lifted his right arm, which stretch-shot right at the beast, breaking up in four parts and the tips forming into pendulum blades, severing both arms, torso, and head of the alien monster. The area to where the freshly born Xenecromorph was sprayed over by what remained in the creature's body, until it fell down, flat on its back and dead. Everyone got up to see the now dead alien on the floor.

Dobbs blinked, not knowing what to believe on this, as he stuttered, "Is that... the pilot."

"It was the pilot. Now it's a Xenocromorph," Jeff explained. He then looked to DRU, as he gave him a thumbs up on a job well done, "Nice one there, DRU."

DRU nodded, as he helped Vincent back on her feet, "You okay, Vincent?"

Vincent nodded, "Yeah, thanks for the save there."

Dru nodded, as Shen came to terms on what was going on now, "Okay... I'm a believer now."

* * *

 **Outside the Ship**

They all left the ship as they rejoined the others by the life raft, as Pendleton asked, "What happened? We heard roaring and sounded like something got thrown into a blender."

Shen pointed back at the ship, as she was the first to explain, "We had a run in with one of the teenagers' aliens. DRU here killed it though."

Hanson looked to the others, as he asked, "Seriously?"

Dobbs nodded, "Yep. That Xeno- whatever was like out of an old zombie game back home only it was on steroids and there's another one running loose on the ship!"

Everyone didn't take that news to the bright side, as Ramirez groaned, "Great, now what?"

"We're moving out and the teenagers are coming with us," Vincent ordered.

Hanson then reminded, "But the captain wants them quarantined."

"Right now, our main priority is finding the one that got away, killing it, and making sure there aren't anymore," Vincent explained, as she pointed to the teens. "Taking the teens to quarantine can wait until we find their missing crew mate and kill the other Xenocromorphs." She then looked at the teens, as she asked the obvious, "We're going to need your help with finding that thing. Will you help us?"

Jeff half-smirked, as he shouldered his rifle, "Come on, Vincent, you already know the answer."

Gwen nodded, "Indeed, you'll need our help with it."

Kori then stated, "I am also worried about Isaac. He is alone and needs our help." She then looked determined, as she proclaimed, "And I too am ready to begin kicking the butt."

"All right team. Let's move out!"

* * *

 **Next Chapter:** **Meeting Old and New Faces;** **Night of the Ishimura pt. 3**


	14. Night of the Ishimura pt3

**Explorers of the Universe**

* * *

 **Chapter 13:** **Meeting Old and New Faces;** **Night of the Ishimura pt. 3**

* * *

 **Present Time**

 **Mid Ship Level**

Once they had gotten through some distance, they had taken the ventilation shaft again, until they reached a section of the pipes. It was an armored ventilation door that Misty had stopped at it. She turned to Isaac, as she maintained her glare at him, hissing out, "Cover me while I take care of this."

He nodded, as he continued to hold his plasma cutter ready to attack at a moment's notice. Misty punched in her code in the console and went to the side of the door. It opened and nothing happened for a minute. Misty turned to Isaac and nodded at him that it was okay to go in.

The two entered the room where Isaac saw the state of Misty's makeshift hideout along with two other occupants: a boy of fourteen, a boy their age, and a girl ready with a gun in her hand pointing at Isaac. The boy seemed pretty calm and surprised to see Misty again, while the girl had a scared look on her face, but the third didn't seem to care or was too calm about it all.

The boy was a Caucasian fourteen year old boy, with clear skin and shaggy brown hair, with a huge bang nearly covering his right eye, while his left eye was shown to be blue. He also had a piercing in his left ear of a silver ring. His body was thin but not weak, like he was a young athletic swimmer just coming out. He was wearing a white messy T-shirt with a black vest, a pair of blue jeans and black boot shoes, with black fingerless gloves, and a one-strap backpack looped from his right shoulder to under his armpit.

The second occupant was a sixteen year old Caucasian girl with brown hair slicked back going down to her midback and brown eyes, with a slim figure perfect for fitting through air ducts. She was wearing messy grease-stained brown pants with black boot shoes, a pink shirt with a dirty brown jacket. She had the nametag Packers etched on the left breast pocket.

The third occupant was an Asian sixteen year old boy with dark brown hair spiked in the back, with a small ponytail in behind with brown eyes. He had a lean small muscle build and brown eyes. He wore black baggy pants with cargo pockets sewn on them, a sleeveless black t-shirt, black fingerless gloves, a gray bag satchel strapped to his left shoulder, and no boots or socks, so he was barefoot. He was currently holding on to a spear he had made from a metal broomstick and a really big kitchen knife welded on to the front.

Misty lowered the gun and gave her a friendlier look than Isaac had ever seen on her face. "It's all right, Pinkie. He's not one of them."

"Are you sure," Pinkie asked, her face showed clear panic and fear as she looked at Isaac.

Misty nodded, thumbing at Isaac, "Yeah, he's harmless." This calmed the girl called Pinkie as she put the gun down and sat down.

"Were you able to find your dad," Pinkie asked.

Misty shook her head, "No. I was on my way there when I was surrounded by more of those walking corpses. I was handling myself just fine," She then walked over to the boy as she went to gather a few more clips for the trip back, "When-" and then she looked at Isaac with a glare, "Sheepy over here decided to step in and help!"

Isaac looked at her with a neutral look, "You and I remember it very differently." But on the inside, he just grumbled, 'First Ken and now Misty? Millions of miles from Earth and the two people I skipped school to avoid are either traveling with me or are waiting for me here.'

But the brown-haired boy looked at Misty and despite what she said could tell what really happened. "So basically, he saved your butt after you ran out of ammo?"

At that deduction, Misty gained an annoyed look, as she looked at him with a twitchy smile, "That's one way of looking at it, Ben."

The girl Pinkie looked at Isaac, and politely nodded to him, "Thanks for saving her- uh." But stopped herself from using Misty's nickname for him.

Isaac's annoyance faded away, as he shook his head, smiling, "No prob and it's Isaac. Isaac Shepard."

"Nice to meet you," Pinkie smiled. "My name is Patty Weaver, but everyone here calls me Pinkie." Isaac nodded, and then she made introductions, pointing to the brown-haired boy, "This is Ben Twenerd. A stowaway. We found him in the brig while we were trying to find a safe place to haul up from all this."

Ben shrugged, "Yeah, but it turned out that the brig wasn't the safest place, considering bars can't slow these things down."

Pinkie then pointed at the quiet fellow in the corner, "That's Genji from Agriculture and Hydroponics. He was fighting off two of them trying to help out other crewmembers."

"Back when there was seven of us," Ben sighed, indicating there were casualties among them.

However, formalities or grief was set aside, as Misty sat down, loading her gun up, and looked at Isaac, "So do you mind telling us what the hell you're doing here, Sheepy? Or are you two going to keep yapping like there ain't an army of the dead walking around the ship?"

After sitting down himself, Isaac sighed, as he began answering, "I came here looking for my parents after they disappeared from their mission here with my cousin, Gwen."

"Oh let me guess then, those walking corpses are the reject experiments of your parents and their Creators," Misty deduced, saying it in a mocking way. "Was all that more theories by your folks just like their ideas that we were made by aliens?"

Isaac ignored the sarcasm and mocking, as he answered, "Actually, we call them Xenocromorphs: they're made from a black slime we found in the temple my parents found and investigated. The slime was made by the Creators and it turns former-living things into Xenocromorphs on contact through injection, including humans. I saw my father turn into one of them and mom died sending a signal to stay away from the planet. And it turns out that temple we found it all in was a ship bound for Earth."

Pinkie looked horrified and sympathetic for Isaac, "So what are you still doing here than? If I were in your shoes, I'd be hot tailing off this cursed rock right way."

Ben looked horrified, but fascinated about the whole alien thing, "Probably stayed to fight the good fight, right? I mean, you look like the hero type."

"Well, that was the plan, Pinkie. But the ship we came in, the USSGS Falcon, is damaged and needs parts. We can use it to fly but not enough to break the planet's orbit. The survivors of the Falcon and I came here to see if we could find what we needed to repair the ship. We couldn't contact the bridge so we assumed the Ishimura was either preparing for the ride home or abandoned. I went outside and opened the doors manually, but I became separated from the others when the hatch closed. I started making my way through the halls looking for a way to the landing area, and that's when I bumped into you."

Misty still had her glare but her mind started to piece it together, "Well if you could call it that." In her mind, she was beating herself up for what she said about Isaac's parents.

But then Ben asked, "But what about the colony back on Aegis 7?"

"That was the first place we went to before we got here with the use of the Falcon's drop ship," Isaac explained. "No survivors there. They were either killed by what's on board the Ishimura, or by themselves. I saw it happen to one of the people we saw there. He used a plasma pick and slit his own throat. But the odd thing was it looked like something drove him crazy before he did it." Everyone took that to word as they all held silence, until Isaac looked to Misty and asked, "So what are you doing here then?"

Misty shrugged, not caring anymore, as she sighed, "Well, if you must know, I came with my parents on one of their jobs which was this. Looks like you decided to hide out at home even after I left with them if you didn't know that."

Isaac looked at her with a glare as he clenched his fist and it shook, 'She's still the same bully I remember.'

Not noticing the fists or not caring, Misty shrugged, "Anyway, I came along as an assistant for my parents. Everything was going great until ma and her crew found some kind of fancy rock on the planet. After she cut contact, pops went to get her, only for him to find some kind of infestation. We lost contact with the geology colony down below the site on the planet after that for a while and that's when all this crazy bat shit started to happen."

"Some kind of waves of energy were being blasted from the planet at the Ishimura," Pinkie explained. "The instruments started acting up and the crew started to act weird. It was almost as if the energy from the planet was making them walk through that river ride in that film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory nonstop!"

Ben shuddered, "Ugh, I hate that part of the film."

"That's when things got worse," Misty went on. "Corpses started popping up, some suicide but mostly murders; it's like a select few were losing their minds. Then later on, others looked like something was eating them alive while they went crazy, and others were missing limbs. I went looking for pops, but ran into those Xeno- whatever. I managed to hide with Pinkie after that since we couldn't get back to the bridge. I went looking for supplies, pops, and a safe way to the bridge when- well you already know what happened after that."

Her face filled with fear, Pinkie spoke up, "It's just a matter of time before those things find their way here and then we'll be-"

Misty got up and went over to Pinkie and looked her in the eyes, "Snap out of it, Pinkie! You start thinking like that and it will be over for us!"

"Those things may seem invincible, but they can be killed," Isaac said as he got up, and showed them his plasma cutter. "They eat bullets like no tomorrow and go right through them with little to no damage shown, but they stay down after a few swipes from a plasma cutter." He looked to Misty, as he asked, "Are there any more of these on the ship?"

"There should be some in the storage area," Misty answered, but then looked to him interrogating, "Why? One's not enough for ya?"

Isaac shook his head, "No, the battery only has half a charge left, and I think it would be better if I had some more for when it dies on me. That, and I think it'd be better if anyone else had one if I'm not enough."

Misty stood up, looking at him with disbelief, "So that's your plan then? Just kill every single one on the ship hoping you have enough batteries to last?"

"No, after that, I'm going to look for my friends so we can form a better plan," Isaac retorted with an annoyed expression aimed at her.

The Hispanic brunette got up and looked at Isaac, "Well then… we're coming with you."

Pinkie looked scared, as she asked, "We are?"

Misty looked at Pinkie again, and assured her, "Now that we know how to kill them, we stand a better chance at surviving this, and I can't leave you here since I don't know how long I'll be this time."

Genji stood up, silent as ever, but from the look on his face, he seemed determined to go with them. Ben shot up, as he smirked, "Alright. Let's do it!"

Pinkie shakingly nodded, "Okay," and then she went to gather what she needed.

As she did that, Misty looked back at Isaac, but got into his face, as she stated, "Let's make one thing clear though, I'll lead you to the plasma cutters, but you have to help me find my pops after that." And then held her hand out, "Deal?"

Isaac looked at her hand and at then reached his out to shake it. Instead he lightly tapped her hand with his. "Deal," he replied coldly, and turned around for the door while waiting for them.

Misty maintained her glare at Isaac's back, but then sighed as she shrugged, 'Okay I deserve that after the low blow from before.'

* * *

 **Later On**

 **Medical**

As the five make their way through the ship, they arrived at the medical bay. The place had looked like it had been torn apart in a brawl. Equipment had been thrashed about, and an awful lot of blood stained the entire place. Needless to say, the place had seen better days. Pinky wasn't taking it easy at all, as she clung to Misty like a security blanket. They looked around and found a dead man with his chest exposed from a surgery that had been interrupted.

"I'd hate to be this guy if he woke up to see his chest like that," Misty gulped, not liking the sight at all. Pinkie turned away, not able to look at it as she looked out the door. Misty noticed Isaac didn't seem as bugged about it, and interrogated inquiringly, "You don't seem to mind this, Sheepy. Did you finally get a stronger stomach?"

Isaac gave her a neutral look but he felt angry at her comment again, "I suppose after seeing Gwen get an alien life form trying to tear itself out of her that it has."

Then Sphere poked out, and stated, "Or the fact that he witnessed his father turning into one, and had to kill him didn't help either. Though he has become more prepared for it now due to said experiences."

"Your own dad turned into one of those things," Misty asked, as she looked surprised by that, "And here, I thought our ship went through hell. It sounds like you got the worst of it. Lucky you." She looked around the med bay and saw all the tech still behind, namely a Kinesis Module, a little damaged though. "Hmmm, I might be able to work with this."

"Work with wh-"

Suddenly the group heard the roars of more Xenocromorphs as Pinkie backed into the room while preventing herself from screaming the best she can, but her face shows she was terrified. Genji and Ben were on standby with Isaac, while Misty started working fast as she grabbed what she needed.

"Hold them off for a few minutes, you guys," Misty said as she worked. "I just need four minutes, tops!"

Pinkie looked at her like she had lost her mind, "To do what!?" Before that question could be answered, two Slashers entered the room and roared at them.

Isaac and Genji began slashing at the Slashers with his plasma cutter and the makeshift staff, as they fell apart and onto the floor. Their limbs cut in half, rotten and blackened organs oozing out of them, and blood spilling out onto the floor. Soon more arrived following the roar of the previous ones which both boys continued to cut through. Pinkie was scared stiff at seeing all of this while hiding behind a staring and frozen Ben as Misty continued to work. Finally Pinkie snapped out of it and began shooting at the extra ones Isaac and Genji hadn't killed yet. Just as Isaac finished off another one, his plasma cutter shut down from the battery being dead.

"Damn it!" Isaac shouted, as he pulled his gun out and started shooting at them alongside Pinkie, as Genji continued to swipe at them with a knife-tipped spear. He noticed that while his shots were aimed at the joints which took two to three bullets to break the joint, hers were going all over the body, and having less of an affect. "Aim for their joints," he yelled at Pinkie, "Once they lose them, they're pretty much finished!"

Pinkie followed that advice as she started attempting to aim at the joints which she hit every third shot due to her lack of training with guns.

Soon Isaac's gun ran out of ammo much to his displeasure as he and Pinkie were pushed back by the last set of five Slashers to be seen.

Ben ran over to Misty, hard at work, as he spoke, "Misty. Whatever you're doing, do it fast. Isaac's run out of ammo, and I don't think either Genji or Pinkie can go on much longer. Particularly Pinkie. She's about to lose it."

Misty noticed this and saw that both of Isaac's weapons were out, but gained inspiration from seeing the two weapons. Just as Isaac was about to reload his gun, she shouted, "Shepard! Throw me your gun and plasma cutter!"

Isaac turned to her with confusion clearly on his face, "What?! You want me to die or something!?"

"Just do it!"

Isaac did so which she caught and passed him her gun, "Use this and give me two more minutes!"

With little time to argue, Isaac used her gun to shot alongside Pinkie and fight alongside Genji as all three managed to hold off the Slashers. After a minute and a half, both of their guns were out with one Slasher left. Genji attempted to stab it in the back, but the Slasher knocked him into the wall; with all that happened he slumped down, halfway exhausted and only able to watch as he struggled to join back in. It charged at Isaac who activated his suit's muscle mode to hold back the Slasher and avoid the blades. It pushed him back into a table, pinning him down with its smaller arms, as the main arms were steadying themselves to stab Isaac's neck. Just as the Slasher was about to finish Isaac off with it's bladed arms much to his displeasure and fear, the main arms and right leg were shot off, and Isaac threw the Slasher to the ground before Genji managed to get up, and slammed his foot onto its head, crushing it as brain matter flew all over.

Isaac panted from the fatigue built up from the struggle and adrenaline surge that went through him at the time as he looked to see Misty holding his gun that looked like it had been modified with a battery cartridge on the top, and the front splitting open into a four-pronged plasma cutter chamber. The gun's front chamber closed back into a pistol shape, as Misty walked over with his gun held toward him so he could take it.

Misty smirked, "I told ya all I needed was a few minutes."

Isaac looked at her and took back the gun, as he looked at it, but asked her, "Thanks, but what did you do?"

"Yeah," Ben spat out, as he looked at the gun in awe, and then back at Misty, "You blasted that monster's limbs off with one shot when it took more than that!"

"I combined Sheepy's gun with his dead plasma cutter," Misty explained. "So now instead of regular bullets, it shoots plasma bullets which kills the shithead monsters a lot easier."

Isaac looked at her exhausted, "That's what you were doing earlier?!"

"No," Misty replied, as she grabbed Isaac's right arm, and began installing a mini-box device of some sort. "I was working on getting this online again." She finished installing it which lit up showing that it was working now. "It's a Kinesis Module. The main feature is being able to lift heavy objects. It's like having mental power without the whole deep concentration bit. It should help us if some of the doors are blocked off by heavy debris."

Isaac looked at it before looking at Misty, smiling, "Thanks. And for the save back there."

Misty looked surprised by that, but shook it off, as she returned to normal, "Don't get the wrong idea, Shepard! I just don't like being indebted to others! We're even now!" She takes her gun back and starts to head for the door. "Come on, there should be some more ammo down this hall."

* * *

 **Later On**

 **Medical Center  
**  
After taking the tram, Gwen and Vincent's group arrived at the Medical Center on the Captain's order. They go from a bright hallway into a darken room due to the lights being out. Shin and Hanson entered the room with their gun to see if the coast was clear. The two security officers gave the okay as both groups entered the center.

From the captain's orders, there had been a disturbance in the room, and it showed by the condition it was in. Tables were turn over, chairs were knocked over, door lids torn off, wires were cut and dangling as sparks of electricity flicked out sounding like a bug light, medical supplies and papers were scattered on the floor, and blood was splattered all over the room. Yet the room was empty with no signs of life, not even a corpse.

Both groups performed their own investigations of the room for the cause of the disturbance on each side of the room. Gwen's group, namely Kori also looked around for clues to Isaac and Sphere's whereabouts. As Vincent was checking an empty morgue cabinet, a loud sound got everyone's attention as they turned towards the source of the sounds with their means of attacking ready. It turned out to be Dobbs who had accidentally knocked over a table of medical supplies. He simply gave a smile silently saying 'My bad.' This earned him a flick in the head from Pendleton out of annoyance along with Jeff saying 'Wise guy' under his breath for the scare as everyone continued to search.

After a few moments of searching, Vincent's group met up along with Jeff while Kori, Gwen, and DRU who continued their search. "What the hell is going on," Ramirez asked in confusion and anxiety.

"I count fifteen sets of footprints, give or take," Shen reported from her findings to Vincent.

Rei walked forward and with a file from the desk she picked up. "The log says there were twenty corpses set for cryo-storage," she said while giving it to Vincent to verify.

"Maybe they had a miraculous recovery," Hanson said as he continued to look around.

"More like a deadly recovery if there were more than two Xenecromorphs onboard the ship," Gwen responded.

"Sounds good to me," Dobbs said getting everyone's attention as they stared at him, "Hey, I don't mind shooting whatever was on that shuttle as long as I get to shoot something," he admitted as he began to look around again.

"Jeff, what is it that we're dealing with," Vincent asked him, "And what are you all even doing here on Aegis VII?"

"Well to answer your first question," Jeff started while keeping a sharp lookout, "Did anyone play that Run Like Hell game?"

"No," they all replied.

Jeff thought for a moment, "Well did anyone see the Leviathan film," he asked again only for the crew to respond with "no" again. Jeff again thought for a moment, "How about either of the Thing films," he asked again. This time they all replied with "yes" to his question. "Okay imagine that, but without disguising itself, regenerating, and more like a wild animal."

"Oh, then why didn't you bring Kurt Russell on your space vacation," Ramirez spoke as he still didn't believe the teens were supposed to be on the planet in the first place.

"Watch it Ramirez," Vincent warned as she shot him a glare. She then returned her attention to Jeff, "I'll ask again, what was your group doing on Aegis VII?"

Jeff began to explain, "We were on an archeological mission on behalf of Weyland Industries when-"

"I've got one."

Vincent's team along with Jeff and Rei look in the direction of Pendleton who is over by an open curtain as they gather around to look inside. Lying on the floor was a lifeless corpse with a mangled face, the stomach exposed, broken hands, dressed in orange, missing its left boot, and in a pool of blood as more oozed out of its mouth.

Dobbs kneels down as he pulls out a baton as he begins to poke at the exposed stomach, "I'm no doctor, but it looks like something's been chewing on him," he said as he continued.

"I would advise against that action," Rei told Dobbs who simply smirked and continued.

He wasn't the only one though as Pendleton backed away, "This crap is getting weirder by the second."

"Sounds like a date with Shen," Dobbs joked as he continued to probe at the corpse.

"Screw you rookie," Shen said clearly insulted by that.

"Has it occurred to you jokers that whatever did this could still be in here," Hanson told the two, "We don't need bring back whatever did this."

As the officers continued to talk and search while Vincent continued to read the file over, Kori, Gwen, and DRU continued their search for of the room. While Gwen was checking one side, DRU was looking around the desks, Kori using her green energy for light and looked around for middle of the room, 'Isaac, please be okay,' she pleaded to herself as she continued to walk around the room. She felt uneasy being in this room, especially in the condition it was in as it reminded her of the years she was experimented on by the Creators. Even the air felt the same her to as she felt chills go through her from the memory. Suddenly, she noticed something on the floor under some paper. She knelt down and lifted the item up. It was an Ipod Walkman and seeing it made her eyes flash with a memory.

* * *

 **3 Days Ago**

 _As the survivors of the Falcon were making time with repairs, the 5_ _th_ _day was almost over, and everyone was getting ready for sleep. Though Isaac was listening to a small black Sony Walkman. He was currently sitting down on the couch section of the lifeboat, while the screen continued to spasm from pics between a man playing a violin to a little girl in a field smiling. The whole world was oblivious to him… until…_

 _Kori was behind him and tapped him on the shoulder, "Isaac?"_

 _Isaac snapped out of it, as he pulled out his earplugs, as he asked, "Kori? What's up?"_

 _She sat next to him, as she explained, "The food is ready for consumption, and I had called out to everyone. But as I called you out, you did not respond."_

 _Isaac looked down at his device, as he smirked, "Guess this thing was louder than I thought it would be."_

 _Kori's curiosity peaked, as she looked a the device, "What is that?"_

 _Isaac smirked, as he held it up, "It's a Walkman. Back on my world, this thing has more than 300 songs downloaded on it. Some of them my mom and I would spend time downloading our favorite bands, and we'd listen to them when she wasn't working. Though dad always wanted to listen to rap music and imitate the rappers. But we always ended up laughing at how goofy a performance he would do."_

 _Kori arched an eyebrow to indicate her confusion, as she asked, "You have musical bands download into a small device? How do you fit them all in there?"_

 _It was now Isaac's turn to be rather confused on that, as he asked, "Your people don't have the internet on Zamaron, do they?"_

* * *

 **Present Time**

As soon as the memory finished, Kori smiled as she what finding the Ipod meant, "Isaac... He is alright," she whispered as she looked around for more signs of him.

"Kori?"

Kori's turned to face the direction sound of Gwen's voice as she walked over to her, "What is it? Did you find something?"

"Gwen, Isaac is all right," Kori said as she showed her the Ipod, "Look, it is his set of musical groups in the palm of his hand. He is sure to be all right," she said with relief and hope in her voice.

Gwen looked at the device and her eyes widen, "You're right... This is his Ipod. He and Sphere must have been through here recently," she said glad to know that her doofus of a cousin was alive.

At the same time near the consoles, DRU continued his own investigation of the scene, 'So much death,' he thought to himself, 'To think that I was born from this as well. I suppose that makes me the odd one,' he thought to himself as he continued to look around. His eyes looked at a table with parts next to a damaged plasma cutter. He looked at it and then had an idea. "Jeff, over here," DRU called out to Jeff who walked away from the group as Vincent continued to give her report.

"What's up Tech Head," Jeff asked DRU, "Find anything good?"

"Perhaps an upgrade of sorts. But I need your rifle please," DRU asked Jeff who looked at his rifle a little unsure.

'He might have been born from the black slime, but he also born from Gwen. I can at least trust that part of him,' he thought to himself. After a moment of thinking, Jeff handed him the rifle, "All right, wow me," Jeff said.

DRU nodded as he took the rifle into his hand and turned his hand into slime as it oozed all over it. Then he took the parts from the table and put them into the rifle as it began to change.

Back with Vincent's group, she had finished the file for the third time without finding anything out of the ordinary, while Dobbs as stopped poking at the corpse, and stood up with the others. "I'm calling this in. Stay sharp, all of you," Vincent said as she put the file down and activates the communicator in her glove, "This is Security Chief Vincent to bridge, come in bridge. Over," she said as she waited for a response.

Soon a commlink screen of a man with white hair and a beard, with a blue uniform appeared before her. "This is Captain Matthius," the man answered, "Give me a sit-rep Vincent."

Before Vincent could respond, a blob of flesh fell in front of Dobbs' feet making a slight sound, but it caused the corpse to awaken as if turning on a switch. As the corpse began to lift itself up, it also began to further change. Two long thin blades extended out of the palms of its broken hands, the teeth were pushed out by sharp fangs that replaced them, and two short arms with claws shot out of its stomach. The creature silently rose up behind Dobbs and was seen by Vincent at the last second.

"Dobbs, look out," she cried out as she pointed her gun at the creature. Before Dobbs could react, the Xencromorph grabbed him with its second part of arms, and threw him onto a medical table as he flipped over onto the floor. Before Dobbs could recover from the impact, the creature ran at him, bit into Dobbs' hand, and tore off some skin. Everyone turned to see Dobbs being attacked by the Slasher as the team were horrified at the sight before them as the monster bit and tore through Dobbs' body. Soon the room was filled with Dobbs' cries for help and pain, Mathius over the vid link to know what was happening, and the Xencromorph roaring.

Vincent ran over and grabbed the Slasher Xencromorph by its clothting and attempted to pull it off of her teammate. "Give me a hand, god damn it," Vincent cried out for help as she was unable to get it off of Dobbs. Ramirez and Hanson ran over to assist Vincent as they grabbed the Slasher and all three were able to pull the Slasher off of Dobbs.

It was thrown into a medical table which fell over and through the curtain. As the others tried to catch their breath from the encounter, the Slasher leaped into the air, and landed on the railing above the security personal. It then lunged into the air towards the team. Just as it was about to attack, Kori flew in while yelling a battle cry, and tackled the Slasher into the other side of the room. She flew back and stood ready to fight with her fists out and glowing green.

Chen went over to Dobbs whose wound was severe. He's face was twisted with pain as he did his best to hang on. "Dobbs is dying! We've got to stop the bleeding," she cried as she tore off some cloth to cover his wound.

Before anyone could respond, the roar of the Slasher got their attention as it charged at Kori with its blades ready to kill her. Kori eyes glowed green as her fists became covered in green energy and shot her star bolts at it. The creature was hit by a few but managed to dodge out of the way of the other shots as it jumped towards Kori. Kori jumped back in time to dodge the Slasher's attack as she leaped forward and deliver a powerful kick that caused the Slasher to be pushed back a bit. The Slasher leaped at Kori again but she managed to grab the Slasher's wrists and held it back.

'This Slasher is stronger than the one before,' Kori thought to herself as she found herself as she continued to hold off the Slasher while it tried to reach for the fresh meat before it. Kori stared at the Slasher as it tried to lunge its mouth at Kori as she stared at it. 'The Xenocromorphs and the Creators,' Kori thought as she continued to struggle against the Slasher's strength.

Fighting the Slasher reminded her of the six years she had spent in the Creator's labs. The way they probed and experimented on her, forced her to fight their early Xenocromorph test subjects, and they pushed her beyond her limits to test her new powers. After six years of pain and torture, she had found the means to fight that pain... Meeting Isaac and the others and she wasn't going to let anything happen to them. 'No... I will not give up... I will not allow the Xenocromorphs or the Creators to take anyone else from me,' she thought with determination as she felt new strength as the glow in her eyes became brighter.

As Vincent's group continued to watch the fight, Hanson, Ramirez, and Pendleton pointed their guns at Kori and the Xenocromorph ready to fire. "Don't shoot," Gwen cried, "You'll hit Kori!"

"Well what are we supposed to do?! Just stand here," Ramirez asked in anger as the situation became more complicated.

"Yeah," Hanson added, "Besides how do we know that she's-"

"Don't you even finish that sentence! She's under our protection and right now she's risking her life for ours," Vincent ordered as she did not want in fighting among her team, "Try to move to the side and open fire on the hostile one-"

Vincent's order was interrupted by Kori as her battle cry filled the room. If the others could see her face, they would be frozen in fear at the sight of her angry face. Her grip on the Slasher's arms grew stronger until she pulled the arms in, delivered an even powerful kick to the chest while releasing one of the creature's arms, and ripped the other arm off that she was still holding.

The Slasher yelled in pain from its arm being torn off and the burst of pain in the chest that spread through its body. Brown body fluid sprayed out and splattered all over the floor. Before it could recover, Kori sped forward, jammed the blade of the arm she tore off into the other arm of the Xenocromorph, and delivered a powerful roundhouse punch with her free glowing fist into the face of the Slasher while firing a starbolt into it on impact. The impact blew the head to pieces as it staggered backwards in pain. Finally, Kori yelled in anger as she thrust her fists forward, and fired off her starbolts like two machine guns at the body of the creature. The room flashed green with each impact and the body lost more mass with each blast. After a few minutes of green lights and firing, Kori stopped as she lowered her arms.

Everyone aside from Chen who was still trying to keep Dobbs alive looked over at the battle. They saw Kori breathing heavily from all the energy she had used and the blob of flesh and scraps of metal that was formerly the Slasher surrounded by scorch marks. Everyone was silent for a moment with shocked expressions on, until Ramirez said what was all going through their heads. "Whoa..."

Gwen and Rei walked over to Kori who didn't move, "Kori, are you okay," Gwen asked her as she reached the side of Kori. Gwen was expecting to see an angry face, but what she saw was the last thing she was expecting. Kori who was still breathing heavily, had tears rolling down her eyes. 'What sort of pain did the Creators put her through,' Gwen asked herself as she stayed by her.

'Tears... I don't understand, she won,' Rei thought to herself at seeing Kori's tears, 'She doesn't seem to be wounded from the fight. Could the fight have awakened some sort of traumatic memories?'

"Damn it, Vincent, what is going on!?"

Vincent stopped watching the girls as she turned her attention to Matthius' voice from the vid com. "I've got a man down; we're in the Morgue, A Deck," Vincent responded as she stopped being stunned by Kori's strength and power, "We were attacked by something, not sure what." She and the rest of her team aside from Shen got in a circle and aimed their guns ready for anything else. Suddenly, Vicent saw the shadow of another Xenocromorph coming out of the doorway near Shen and a dying Dobbs. "Crap! Shen look out," Vincent warned Shen as two more Slashers came through the door wearing shredded medical uniforms. Shen ducked just as Vincent and her team opened fire but the Slashers seemed to not be harmed by the bullets. All the gunfire seemed to do was slow the two Slashers down.

"This isn't working," Pendelton said while still firing his gun, "We're just tickling these things!"

"Hey, are you listening," Hanson yelled out to Gwen, "Get that Amazon alien girl back in gear before we run out of bullets!"

Just then, a power burst of sound filled the room and the upper body of one of the Slashers exploded all over as brown fluid spewed out of the legs until they collapsed onto the floor. Before anyone could saying anything, another burst of sound filled the room, and the same thing happened to the Slasher as it keeled over and died. The team including Gwen and Kori looked at the scattered pieces of the two Slashers wondering what happened.

"What the hell did that," Hanson exclaimed wondering what was able to blow the two Slashers to bits.

"I did that."

Everyone looked to see Jeff holding his modified rifle as smoke rose up from the barrel, "And my new toy," Jeff finished as he blew the end of it. He turned to DRU who was standing next to him, "Thanks Tech Head. This is going to make this hunt a lot easier," Jeff told DRU as he started to head over to the others.

"Not a problem," DRU responded as he went to join the others, "Besides without Kori and the others delaying the Slashers, I might not have finished the modifications in time."

"What the hell were those things," Ramirez asked them, "Were those the things on the shuttle!?"

"I don't know," Chen said as she got up from Dobbs' corpse and joined the others, "Screw this crap; let's get the hell out of here," she finished as he started to head for the door only to be stopped by Pendleton who grabbed her arm.

"Man up Shen, you got a job to do," Pendleton reminded her of their job on the ship.

"Dobbs is freaking dead," Chen said pointed towards his lifeless corpse.

"Get a hold of yourselves," Vincent told the others by raising her voice, "Whatever these things are, they are loose on the ship. Secure this room and get ready to move," she ordered as she turned on her communicator again. "Vincent to Bridge. Over," she said waiting for a response.

The vid screen showing Matthius appeared again. "I want a report, Vincent," Matthius ordered.

"Something's going on sir. Something alien was on the from the Ishimura's shuttle, and is attacking us," Vincent explained.

"What about the shuttle from the Falcon? Was it real," Matthius asked.

"It's real sir. But the ship was piloted by teenagers. They claim to have been on a mission from Weyland Industries just as we are," Vincent explained to the captain.

"Teenagers!? How do you know they are telling the truth," Matthius asked with a mix of surprise and anger, "For all we know, they could've been joy riding in this sector of space."

"One of the teens is an employee of Weyland industries and the son of a co-worker, Samuel Marek. I knew both of them sir. Also Mr. Weyland's personal android was onboard the shuttle as well," Vincent explained as she continued to stand ready, "One of their friends was the one who manually opened the shuttle bay doors and he's somewhere else on the ship."

"What- Just a moment Vincent," Matthius said as he deactivated the com link to see what the commotion was.

"Are you sure that's his?"

Vincent heard Jeff's voice and saw the tees looking at an Ipod in Kori's hand.

"I am positive this belongs to Isaac," Kori said as she placed it in her pocked, "He is still alive and somewhere on the ship."

"I do not recall that device being on the list of items in the Falcon's storage," Rei said, "It could belong to someone else on this ship."

"I was there when he bought it and I always saw him leave the house with it," Gwen said defending Kori's statement, "It's Isaac's alright."

"Thanks for earlier, all of you" Vincent said getting everyone's attention, "You saved us from a bad situation."

"Thank Kori and DRU," Jeff said, "They saved our bacon."

"Yes, thank you. Both of your" Vincent said as she looked at DRU, "What did you do to Jeff's gun," she asked DRU.

"I used the spare parts from the medical laser to modify Jeff's rifle to use the same kind of energy it uses," DRU explained as he pointed the damaged plasma cutter on the desk, "It seems to do a much better job than standard bullets against the Xenocromorphs."

"I noticed," Vincent asked DRU, "Are you able to do the same to the rest of our guns?"

"My apologies but no. That was the only laser I could find in the room," DRU answered, "But if we can find more, I can without any trouble."

Before Vincent could respond, her com link reactivated, and Matthius's face reappeared. "Vincent, get your team to B Deck mess hall on the double," he told her, "After the situation has been taken care of, find the one who opened doors, and bring the group from the Falcon shuttle to the bridge for questioning."

"On our way," she tells the captain as the vid screen disappeared. She turned her attention to her team, "Get full mags in those weapons; I think we're about to walk into hell," Vincent ordered as she reloaded her gun.

Vincent's team reloaded their guns and followed Vincent to doorway along with Gwen's group. As Kori headed for the door, she looked back at the destruction of the room, and held the Ipod in her pocket tightly, 'Isaac... Stay safe,' she thought as she went after the others.

* * *

 **Elsewhere**

With the plasma cutter in hand, Isaac led the way while Misty and Pinky slowly kept up from behind, and Sphere floated next to Isaac, while Ben and Genji followed the rear. As they moved through the darken halls of the ship, the group moved through the empty halls. The halls were lite with only the emergency lights leaving the halls filled with a sickly yellow light. The only sounds that could be heard were the low hums of machines, the low humming of the plasma cutter on standby, the sound of the human's footsteps echoing through the hallways. All the four wonderers could do was constantly stay on their guard, checking every shadow, looking in every corner, and listen for the smallest sound for signs of the monsters infesting the Ishimura.

As Isaac checked the corner for signs of the monsters, he saw that there were no signs of the creatures or his friends. "It's safe," he whispered to the others. They started to make their way towards the next hallway.

As they walked through hallway, Misty stared at Isaac as the only other emotion went through her aside from fear... Frustration. 'Of all people who had to come to this death trap... Why did it have to be him? Seems appropriate though, he was useless on Earth, and yet now he thinks he's a bad ass in space,' she thought as she held Pinkie close to her to help comfort the younger girl. As they made their way through the hallway, they were unaware of being followed by someone or something as it hid in any place that could cast a shadow.

After a few minutes, the group enter through a door and found themselves in a large room with a circular section with a computer in the center illuminated by white lights.

"It appears we are in a control room of some sort," Sphere said as he floated around the room, "It doesn't appear as though anyone has been here for a while."

Misty became scared from Sphere's words as she looked around as her anxiety became stronger, "Which means that they could've been," she said in fear.

"We don't know that," Isaac asked as he looked around in defense, "Sphere, can you access the console to find the others," he asked Sphere.

"I don't know. This console is as outdated as the Prometheus. Maybe even more," Sphere said as he floated over to the console, "Maybe if I cross a few wires," he said as extendable arms came out, and got to work.

"Well, sorry that Earth ships are so primitive compared to your tech," Ben sarcastically said as he shot Sphere a glare, "Oh wait, if your alien tech is great, then why haven't they dealt with those things yet!?"

"Easy, Ben," Isaac said trying to calm her down, "He just means that-"

"Save it Shepard," Misty shot at him unaware that they were being watched from above. "You think just because-"

Before she could continue, the alarm went off as a spinning yellow light replaced the white ones leaving very little light. The teens froze as they were surrounded by darkness as they looked in fear. On the console where Sphere was working, a display in read appeared with the words "Decontamination Alert" flashing.

"They're here! They're coming," Pinkie said as she started to panic, "They're going to come in and kills us!"

"Stay calm Pinkie," Misty said as she tried to find her in the darkness, "Isaac, you have good aim," she said out loud. As Misty looked around for Pinkie, she was unaware that there moving through the shadows, were the creatures from before in the halls. They moved around their prey like a shark in the ocean using the shadows as their water.

"Where are they? WHERE ARE THEY," Pinkie cried out.

"I don't know," Ben wailed out, as Genji got his spear at the ready.

Isaac looked around with his plasma cutter aimed and ready. Suddenly, he saw Pinkie for a split-second thanks to the light along with a shadow behind her. "GET DOWN," he cried out as he fired in Misty's direction.

Misty ducked just in time to dodge the blast as it hit its target. The inhuman cry of the Xenocromorph cried out as its left arm flew off. It roared again as it charged at the cause of the pain. Isaac shot at it again. The first shot missed its target but the second one hit the leg causing the creature to fall onto the ground and lifeless. Before Isaac could sigh in relief, he heard another monster cry from behind, and shot three more shots in the dark. After a moment, the lights returned on illuminating the room, and the warning sign disappeared from the console.

Misty who was on the floor from Isaac's earlier warning picked herself up, "What the hell just-" she started to say until she saw the room. There on the floor near Pinkie and near the console were two dead Xenocromorphs. One had its left arm and leg blown off while the other had its arms and head blasted off as fluids oozed out of their wounds and oto the floor. As soon as Pinky lifted her head up, she saw the dead alien behind her, screamed, and scooted away from it.

"Is- Is It," she asked in a panic as Isaac approached the other one.

"Yeah, but just in case," he said as he shot two more shots into it, "Yeah, I think this one is dead."

Misty approached the first one as this was the first time she had seen the creatures that had infested the ship in the light rather than the shadows, "Same with this one... So, this is it," she said as she drew closer. After a moment, she turned around, "Well now-"

"GGGGGRRRRRRRAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHHH!"

Misty turned around to hear the creature as it leapt up and made another attack on her. Her expression was soon filled with fear as she was moments from death. However, just as it was about to maul her to death, it's head was blown to pieces causing it to spasm out of control away from Misty, and on to the floor. Misty's heavy breathing filled the room as she took in what happened.

"Now it's dead," Isaac said as he reloaded the gun, "Are you okay Misty?"

"M-Mind your own business Shepeard," she replied as she tried to hide her fear as Isaac did what she said out of habit.

Isaac shook his head, 'Just like old times,' he thought to himself from his time as her classmate.

"EUREKA!"

Isaac and Pinky turned around and saw Ship pop out of the console. "You were able to access the server," Isaac asked.

"Better. I downloaded a copy of the map and managed to find the others," Sphere replied, "It looks like they're heading in the direction of the bridge. But if we take the service lift through that door to the left, we can meet up with them in Hydroponics."

"Great, good job," Isaac said as he looked over at Misty, "Come on Misty, we have to kee-." Misty just sat there for a moment as if she didn't hear him.

"Misty," Pinky asked in concern but saw Misty got up.

"Yeah, yeah, I heard the talking tennis ball," she said as she walked towards the door.

* * *

 **Next Chapter: Survival Together; Night of the Ishimura pt.4**

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **A friend of mine told me that** **imbécil isSpanish for jerk.**


End file.
